


Chasing The Past

by Muse_Dono



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Humor, OC, Some Swearing, Twin sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23962576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muse_Dono/pseuds/Muse_Dono
Summary: Higurashi Shika, twin of Higurashi Kagome, falls 500 years into the past with her sister. And although Shika's favourite subject is history, she's finding that history is a lot less fascinating up close, and a lot more deadly. May Kami have mercy on her sanity, and the poor souls that cross her. OC X Sesshomaru.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Miroku/Sango (InuYasha), Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 74





	1. The Past, The Present, And The Crazy

"Shi-ka! Wake _up!"_

I groan, pulling my covers over my shoulders and wrapping it tighter around myself as I roll away from the annoying _pest._ The pest continues to poke, shake and whine in that irritating pitch which is much too high for the morning.

"Go _away,"_ I mumble.

"Not until you _get up!_ Honestly, Shika, you've already missed breakfast!" This time, the pest tries to yank my blanket from me, but I hold on tight. "Don't make me get Mama!"

I warily peek out from under my eyelash, lips pursed and squinting through the morning sunlight. I consider letting go of my blanket, just so that she'll fall flat on her bum, but ultimately decide that the resulting blast of cold air isn't worth it. Kagome, my younger sister by four minutes exactly, stares straight back, unmoving and unflinching in her threat as she tugs on my blanket.

 _"Fine,"_ I concede in a grumble. I raise on my elbow to glare at her properly, and the cheekily girl smirks back.

"Great! Get dressed and I'll meet you at the front! Oh, and happy birthday!" Kagome chirps before flouncing out of my room.

 _'Tch.'_ What did I do in a past life to be sentenced with a family of morning people, again?

Sluggishly, I slip off my bed and grab my uniform with a yawn. After that and brushing my raven, chin-length hair, teeth, and putting on deodorant, I go downstairs.

"Morning, Gramps," I wave lazily at him as I pass him in the hallway.

"Ah, Shika! Finally up, I see!"

"Not by choice," I assure him.

"Hey, Mama," I say when I enter the kitchen.

Mama smiles at me, turning her attention away from the dirty dishes in the sink that she's washing. "Good morning and happy birthday, Shika. Your lunch is in the fridge."

"Thanks." I open the fridge to grab the blue wrapped bento box, and an apple to eat later for breakfast.

"Shika, were you up late playing video games again?" Mama eyes me, and the slight bags that are most likely under my eyes.

"No," I lie, completely straight faced. "Just had a hard time settling is all." I had been, in fact, playing my new sim dating game all last night. I managed to finish Natsu's Route at three-forty in the morning, so despite how tired I feel I don't regret it.

Not that I'm going to admit that to Mama. Last lime I stayed up so late on a school day she took away my games for a week.

 _'Maybe I can fake a terrible cramp at lunch,'_ I muse. _'Get excused and be able to sleep the rest of the school day away...'_

Mama hums, not completely believing me as she rinses off a plate. I make a mental note to call my Grandpa instead of her. He'll be too awkward and embarrassed about my 'period' to question me closely, and all too happy to avoid me for the rest of the day after I arrive back home.

"Bye," I tell Mama before exiting.

"Have a good day, Shika!" she calls after.

"Are you ready?" Kagome asks me, shoes on and waiting next to the front door.

"Yeah," I respond, grabbing my bag from the hook on the wall. "Just let me put my shoes on." Once I have them on and my school bag slung over my right shoulder, Kagome hooks our free arms together as we leave the house.

 _'Should've brought my sunglasses,'_ I think to myself, squinting and turning my head from the bright sun.

"So, which game were you playing last night?" Kagome eyes me slyly, a grin on her lips. "Heard you cursing through the shared wall. What, did you get a bad ending?"

"I was playing _Fortune Lover,_ and no, I got the happy ending, thank you very much. I just couldn't get the sexy scene that I wanted, is all."

Kagome hums. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

 _'What? I -oh.'_ I roll my eyes at her. "Happy birthday, Imouto."

"Shut up," she pouts and shoves me. "Only by four minutes!"

I laugh. "And those were the best four minutes of my life!"

"Shika-neechan! Kagome-neechan!"

Kagome and I pause and turn, catching our little brother Sota by the old Hiden Well, Buya's food dish in his hands. He waves us over, a pinched, nervous look on his face.

"What is it, Sota?" Kagome asks him once we're in front of him.

He bites his lip, eyes flickering inside the tiny, shed-sized building. "Buyo went inside..."

"So?" I quirk a brow at him. "Go get him then." I've seen Sota lug him around the house, so it isn't as if the fat cat is too heavy for him.

"But the place gives me the creeps," he whines. "Can't one of you go get him for me?" he widens his eyes, but I remain unimpressed by his 'puppy dog eyes.' "I keep calling him, but he won't come! What if he's trapped?" he adds.

"You're such a scaredy cat," Kagome sighs. Nonetheless, she trudge inside and I follow. "Buyo! Buyo!" she calls out loudly.

I lean against the creaky, dusty old railing, seeing if I can spot him down below. I admit, the bones in the dirt aren't the most welcoming sight.

Something makes a scratching noise down there, and Sota jumps and latches onto my arm. "Ah! Something is _down_ there!" he cries fearfully.

"Yeah, Buyo," Kagome replies dryly.

My gut suddenly sinks, and my mouth becomes awfully dry as Kagome starts going down the stairs. "Wait!" I grab her arm, and she eyes me curiously. "D-Don't go down there. I have a bad feeling about this."

The scratching noise comes back, and I tense. I _swear_ it's coming from _inside_ the sealed Well.

"Not you too, Shika!" Kagome rolls her eyes, sighing. "Seriously! It's just the old Well. We've been down here plenty of times!"

I bristle. "Oi, I'm just saying that something isn't right. I'm sure Buyo can come eat whenever he wants if we leave his food outside."

Kagome pats my hand 'consolingly.' "You two chickens can stay here. I'm just going to be a second," she waves me off and resumes going down.

Grrr! With horrible, heavy rocks of dread in my stomach, and my heart hammering, I watch Kagome go downstairs and glance around.

"Ah!" she suddenly cries out, and I lunge forward -almost tripping and falling- down the stairs to snatch her arm.

"Aaah!" Sota falls backwards in fright, before glancing down at Kagome's feet.  
"Oh, Buyo..."

Irritation spikes within me, and I barely retain the sudden urge to kick the fat cat across the room. _'Stupid cat!'_ I glare at the purring demon, smug as can be in Kagome's arms.

I let her go and step back, crossing my arms with a scowl.

"You scared me!" Sota accuses Kagome. "Don't scream so loud, Nee-chan!"

"Watch it!" she snaps back. "I'm only down here 'cause you and Shika were too scared!"

"I was not!" I retort, despite the sound of my own heart in my ears. _'This is so stupid.'_ "Let's just go-"

"A-Ah, Nee-chan-!" Sota scrambles back on his feet, alarmed.

And that's when a bright light appeared, and the previously sealed Well burst open.

"AAAHH!"

My body moves before my brain, as my heart stutters and I latch onto Kagome's foot. But instead of holding her back, I'm sucked in along with her.

"Nee-chan!"

 _'What the_ fuck.'

A naked woman with many arms is holding onto Kagome's face and-and _what the fuck?_

We're falling -falling like fucking Alice in Wonderland, that western fairy tale- everything is so dark, cold-

"Such joy!" the naked woman moans. "I can feel my strength returning! My body is coming back to life again!"

Oh, oh okay, now the woman is part bug! What-

"You have it, don't you?" the freaky woman continues, oblivious of my mental freak out and how my vocal cords have frozen. "Don't you?" She-she-

_'Am I going to pass out?'_

_"_ Let me go! You're disgusting!" Kagome struggles against her, and her giant, freakishly long tongue-

And then the next thing I know, the woman is pushed away, gone, and Kagome and I are touching dirt. I blink, chest heaving, and simply stare at nothing as my brain tries rebooting.

"Sh-Shika...?" Kagome shifts, stares at me with wide eyes. "Ow, ow, ow..." she hisses, dragging her legs closer and that's when I realize that I'm still clutching her leg.

I let go, distantly noting the crescent marks on her pale skin. "Kagome, what the _fuck_ was that?" I can barely recognize my own voice, as shaky and as broken as it is.

"I don't know," she whispers. "But did you hear her say something about a Scared Jewel? And-And are we inside the Well?" she whips her head around, and I eye the tall, four brick walls around ourselves myself. "W-We gotta get out!"

She stands, and I follow suit when with my shaking legs, and trembling hands. I latch onto her shoulders without thinking about it, and she wraps an arm around my waist.

"Sota! Are you there?" she calls out. "Get Gramps!"

"A-And a ladder!" I add, running a hand through my soft hair. _'You're fine, you're fine. Pull yourself together!'_

Sota doesn't answer.

"Sota! Sota, where are you?"

Still no answer.

"That kid!" Kagome growls, stomping her foot. "He ran away, didn't he?" She glances at me.

I press my lips into a grim line. "How are we going to get out now?" I ask her.

Kagome looks around, hesitating on the vines.

"Can it even hold our weight?" I question cynically, guessing her thoughts.

"Well, what other choice do we have?" she huffs.

_'Point.'_

And so we climb. Well, she does anyways -I don't want to get squashed under and break something if she slips or a vine snaps. "What is it?" I question her, when she stopped right at the top.

"Um, you might want to see it for yourself..."

With that tone of voice? I highly doubt that. Still... _'I'm going to kill the brat next time I see him,'_ I think to myself darkly, feeling the strain on my fingertips and toes as I struggle up and out of the dirty, musty Well.

Once over, with the wood biting into my back thighs as I sit on the top of the Well, my mind blanks for a second time this day. And within less than a half hour, too.

We're outside. The slight heat on my skin, the blue sky clear, and the birds chirping as the grass and many, many trees surrounding us sway in the wind.

_'What. The. Fuck.'_

"Shika, we fell into the Well at the Shrine, right?"

"I thought so," I swallow thickly.

"Right. A-And so how-?"

"I don't know."

We stare at each other, neither of us knowing what to do, or what the hell is happening.

Eventually, I break eye contact, glancing around the strange forest, and wiping my clammy palms on my skirt. "Well, I, I guess we should start looking? Or something?" I offer nervously.

"Yeah..." Kagome agrees quietly.

Sticking close together, we start down a trail obviously used by others, calling Mama, Gramps, and Sota in case they're near. About ten minutes in, Kagome suddenly grabs my arm and points ahead.

"Shika! Look! The Scared Tree!" Instantly overcome with excitement, Kagome starts pulling and we run over to it.

_'Oh, thank Kami-'_

"A boy?"

We come to an abrupt halt, a few feet away from the giant tree.

_'I take that back. Fuck you, Kami!'_

"Are you seeing this?" Kagome turns to me, wide eyed.

"Unfortunately," I purse my lips together.

There, against the Scared Tree, is a long, white haired boy dressed in red and tied up with thick roots and vines, an arrow in his chest. And cosplay cat ears, of all things.

Honestly, I don't think my heart can take much more of this! I just want to go _home!_ Is that too much to ask for?

"H-Hey! Kagome!" I try to grab her, but she dodges and just-just goes straight up to the dead boy! What the hell! "Kagome, get _back here,"_ I hiss, arms crossed and close to my chest, eyes flickering around in fear of someone catching us. _'This is the Well and Buyo all over again!'_

Forget _Sota -_ when Kagome comes back, and away from the weirdly peaceful looking corpse, I'm going to _kill her!_

 _'Wait. Is, is she_ touching him!? _Oh, Kami, she really_ is!'

"They feel so real!" Kagome gasps, awed as she continues to ignore me and play with the tiny, flexible cat ears.

 _"Ka-Go-Me!"_ I grit out, shifting anxiously. "Let's-"

"You two! What're you up to?!"

Not for the first time, I get a near heart attack when I jump in surprise, spinning on my heel only to have numerous arrows pointed straight at my face, held back by _very_ angry and gruff men.

_'Shit.'_

* * *

Dead. They are _so dead_ when I get my hands on them! _'Every. Last. One!'_ Seething, I glare furiously at any of the crazies -because they are _absolutely crazy,_ every single one of them- who _dare_ to glance my way.

Tied up as I am, with my back against an equally trapped Kagome, one of the younger men flinches when he meets my eye. My lips pull back into a mocking smile -more of a sneer, honestly- as I remember with immense, dark satisfaction exactly _how_ hard I had flipped him when he first tried to grab me.

An older, meaner man with bold boulders and the beginnings of a delightful black eye -curtsy of yours truly- glares right back.

(Unfortunately, six years or not, Judo practise isn't the best when there's more than one opponent working against you. Still, I made it hell for the crazies. And Kagome said she didn't want to sign up with me!)

"Hey! Why are we tied up?" Kagome demands, struggling against her bindings.

"Just you wait until we call the cops," I growl.

The crowd around us, people of all various degrees of dirty, and all dressed like peasants, mutter amongst themselves.

"Two strangely dressed girls!" one comments.

"From a foreign land?" another guesses.

"Will there be another war?"

"Just before rice-planting season? We're so short-handed as it is!"

"Perhaps they are foxes in disguise?" A mom, holding a newborn to her chest, wonders to the heavy women standing next to her.

"Better a shape-shifter than another war."

"Make way for the High Priestess Kaede!" Someone one announces, and immediately the crowd parts for an old, wrinkly and short lady with an eye patch and dressed in a priestess get-up to wobble through.

She passes a bow to a man next to her, and then reaches into her small bag to sprinkle something on us.

It instantly itches my nose, and I sneeze. "Oi!"

"Hey, what are you doing!" Kagome demands, moving her head to avoid the stuff while coughing.

"You crazy old bat!" I add, spiting, the fire to my anger blazing to new heights.

Ignoring my words, she says; "I was told that a couple of yokai were found in Inuyasha's Forest. I thought a purification was in order."

I repeat: they are all off their rockers!

"Do we _look_ like yokai to you!?" I demand hotly. "Maybe you and your friends should get your eyes checked! Now, let us go already!" _'So that I kick your asses and lock them behind bars for assault and kidnapping!'_

"Yeah!" Kagome agrees loudly. "Let us go! We didn't do anything!"

"Could they be foreign spies?" The guy holding the old crone's bow asks soberly.

"Yes, but to spy on _what?"_ she counters. "We can barely feed ourselves in this village."

_'Thank you!'_

The old woman -Kaede, wasn't that her name?- pauses when she turns back to us, staring intently at Kagome's face. "You there, let me take a good look at your face." Kaede grabs Kagome's jaw and hangs on when Kagome jerks back.

"Oi, let my sister go!" I try to shove my way forward, but the man next to Kaede drops the bow to hold me back. "Don't touch me!" I snap at him, attempting to bite his sweaty, grimy hands, but he positions his hands and I in a way I can't.

 _'I am_ so _taking a class on how to escape binding when we're home! And signing Kagome up too, whether she finds it boring or not!'_

"Such a likeness...To my sister Kikyo..." Kaede murmurs to herself, before straightening and letting Kagome go.

The guy holding me also backs off, but not before I manage a kick to his shin.

* * *

"Here," Kaede offers a wooden bowl of stew to both Kagome and myself.

"This looks delicious!" Kagome comments, smiling. "Thank you!"

I remain silent, the hot bowl warming my cold hands and lap, as I watch Kaede closely and suspiciously.

"Don't be rude, Shika!" Kagome hisses in my ear quietly, jabbing me in the ribs with her elbow.

I frown, shifting an inch away from her and her bony elbows, but stay tight-lipped. Because the way _I_ see it, after being assaulted and kidnapped out of nowhere, we have absolutely _no_ reason to trust _anyone_ in this village. Nor owe them our gratitude. Never mind the old woman who claims that Kagome is a mirror image of her own dead sister, fifty years ago.

Honestly, feeding us dinner is the _least_ they can do for all of the trouble they caused us. (And I wouldn't even let Kagome enjoy the stew, much less eat it myself, if I hadn't watch Kaede make it from scratch myself. Wouldn't put poisoning pass these lunatics...)

"You say you are...'Fraternal' twins, yes?" Kaede muses, looking between Kagome and I.

"Yes," I respond tightly, clutching my bowl closer. "Two eggs, two sperm."

While Kagome and I share our dark hair, the shape of our eyes, our turn-up nose, and the colour of our skin, that's where our similarities end. I take after our European father more than Sota and Kagome do, so unlike their hazel eyes I have bright green, have more defined cheekbones, and stand three inches taller than Kagome. Also, I'm a cup size bigger. (A fact that Kagome whines and bemoans about often.)

Kaede nods, stirring the pot before. "Please forgive us," she says, "With so many wars these days...Our young men have become rash. Even if I tell them we've no business with wars, they refuse to listen and only give me more grief."

 _'Rash? Rash!? That's what you call it?!'_ I bite my cheek, taking a sip of my dinner and swallowing the scathing words on the tip of my tongue. But only because Kagome and I need to find our way back home, and as much as I loathe it, Kaede and the rest of the villagers might be our best bet yet. Better let kind, forgiving Kagome keep the civil relationship for now.

_'They should all go see a therapist, with how trigger happy I've experienced them to be and how you say they are...'_

"This, uh, isn't Tokyo, is it?" Kagome says sheepishly.

Bewildered, Kaede turns and blinks at Kagome owlishly. "'Tokyo'?" she repeats. "I've never heard of such a place. Is that your homeland?"

With a sinking, dreadful feeling, I wonder where in hell we ended up at.

_'Definitely kicking the cat when I'm home. Fat bastard.'_

"Yes, well..." Kagome trails off awkwardly. "We'd like to go home soon, right, Shika?"

"Right," I force a smile. "You wouldn't have any idea where-"

I'm suddenly interrupted by a loud crash, and several ear-piecing screams. Faster than I thought her capable of, Kaede bolts out of the small hut, like a bat straight out of hell. Kagome and I share a frightened, wide-eyed look before following her.

 _'Dear Kami...'_ I gape at the utter destruction before me, the fallen huts, the dust clouds, the unmoving bodies on the ground, _the slithering centipede monster-_

What happens next, I'm not completely sure. Everything happens so fast, and with my heart hammering so loudly, my blood rushing through my ears, and the adrenaline coursing through my veins -well, it's all blur, more or less.

The centipede monster, the same one from in the Well, spots us, and dives straight for Kagome and I. Naturally, we run for our fucking lives -pass the green yard, across the dirt bridge, and over the small hill where the Scared Tree is, where the centipede monster almost catches us and the aftershocks send Kagome and I flying.

I feel only a slight pain on my shoulder, hip, and head before I'm coughing and scrambling to my feet again. _'Wooh...'_ I blink, head swimming and with black dots dancing in my vision as stumble a step or two back.

Where-Kagome _'-Is the white haired boy_ alive?!'

"Kikyo? Kikyo? Who's this Kikyo?!" Kagome narrows her eyes at the very much alive and breathing, although no less pinned white haired boy, hands on hips as she stands before him, and about thirty feet away from me.

I must have missed something. Like, a lot of somethings. Because since when could dead bodies not-not _be dead,_ and he's glaring at her like-

Oh, Kami, where is the centipede monster!? Is this really the right time to be arguing with _anyone_ right now?!

"You listen here, my name is-"

"She's coming," the boy announces, sounding almost bored.

What- "KAGOME!" I scream, horrified to my core, and stricken in place as the centipede monster bursts out of the treetop and makes a swipe for her.

"AAHH!"

Flying arrows zoom past, stabbing and taking hold of the centipede monster.

"All right! Heave!" The arriving villagers shout, grabbing their rope taut and dragging the monster away from my fallen twin.

My knees buckle from under me, and I mentally take back every negative thing I've said about the villagers.

The white haired boy says something to Kagome, which pisses her off, but it's all useless buzzing in my ears-

My eyes widen, catching the fraying rope-

"KAGOME!" I shriek, my body moving before my mind can pick up speed and I rush forwards, pushing her down as someone -some _thing-_ grabs me, before hauling me high, high off the ground.

"Get out of my way!" the centipede monster speeches in my face, before I'm air-born again when I'm thrown.

The last thing I hear before I black out from the pain, besides the loud ringing in my ears, is someone screaming my name.

* * *

**If you'd like to review, but don't know what to say, please answer these questions:**

**1.** What do you think of Shika?

 **2.** What do you hope to see in the future?

 **3.** What was your favourite part?

 **4.** What was your least favourite part?

 **5.** Do you see any mistakes? (If so, please point them out so that I can fix them immediately.)

 **6.** Do you have any questions?


	2. Furries And Furious

The next time I wake up, it's to a pounding headache and deep agony in every inch of my body. I groan, shifting and then hating myself for it when sharp pain travels up and down my sore body like electricity.

_'What bus ran me over?'_

"Heh. So you're finally awake, are ya?"

With more effort that it really ought to take, I manage pry my eyes about and turn my head to face the voice. "Cat...Boy?" I croak.

Lounging across from me on the other side of the tiny, but well-built hut, with his elbow propped up, the white haired boy with fake ears, golden eye contacts, and a beaded necklace stares me, a slight sneer pulling on his lips. Distantly, I wonder what kind of anime character he's supposed to be, or if he's a furry.

_'What's he doing here?'_ Wasn't he pinned to the tree, and with-

_'Kagome!'_ I gasp, lurching forward when my last memories hit me like the second truck, but in the next second I cry out with my hands pressed against my temples, falling back down and curling up. _'Ow, ow, ow, ow!'_ "Fuuuuccckkk..." I hiss.

Cat Boy snorts. "I wouldn't try moving yet, if I were ya."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," I glare at him through my suffering.

"Captain what?" he blinks.

"Shika!" The hut's flimsy 'door' whips back to reveal a flustered, wide-eyed Kagome. When her eye catches mine, she promptly bursts out crying and throws herself at me. "Oh, Shika!"

"Ow, ow, ow!" I yelp, flinching from her aggressive affection and high-pitched voice in me ear.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Just as quickly, Kagome jerks away, hands covering her mouth. "Shika, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," I lie, wincing as I wait for the sudden pain to die away to the dull throb. "Kagome, what _happened?_ How long was I out for? What happened to the monster?"

Behind Kagome, I can see Cat Boy inching past Kagome and towards the entrance/exit, but I pay no mind to him and focus on my sister.

Kagome tells me _everything._

* * *

"Are you alright, child?"

I laugh, a horrible, mirthless sound that bubbles up and chokes me. _'Am I alright?'_ she asks me. "Oh, I'm just _perfect_ ," I say to Kaede dryly, not looking away from the calm river in front of me. "Just dandy. Found out that yokai are actually real, _I almost got killed by one,_ my twin sister is the reincarnation of some dead Priestess, said sister now has a giant bulls eye on her because of some jewel that had been inside her _from birth,_ and I don't know how the _fuck_ to get home, or if I'll ever be able to. Who wouldn't be fine?"

Kaede frowns, slowly and stiffly sitting down beside me on the huge, low rock. "Not all hope is lost," she tries to reassure me.

_'Easy for_ you _to say,'_ I think bitterly, with a touch of hysterical.

"And where is your sister now?" Kaede asks, when I don't respond to her hollow words.

Palming a flat rock I found earlier, I throw it and watch it skip two steps before sinking. "She said something about finding a bush to take care of business in."

"I see. It is true that many will come for the Sacred Jewel, both yokai and humans alike. It is very important that neither you or your sister wanders alone, lest they take advantage," she warns me gravely, coughing into her long sleeve.

"Yeah," I frown, the centipede monster flashing through my mind. If I close my eyes I can still hear her awful voice in my ear, her nails digging into my arms, and the way my stomach drops when I'm suddenly air-born. I cross my arms and bite my lip, thinking. "...Kaede-san?"

"Yes, child?"

I hesitate. "Is there, um, perhaps dagger or weapon that I could have? I only have training in hand-to-hand combat, but I don't feel like that's going to be very effective against yokai. I don't have any money on me either, but..."

"I believe that there is blacksmith in the village you help you," Kaede's expression softens.

"Even if I don't have the money?"

"I am sure something can be worked out."

Relief floods me, and I smile at her. "Thank you, Kaede-san." Even if I'm not trained in the way of weapons, just having it on me will make me feel safer.

* * *

"Is this what you're looking for, Higurashi-san?"

A gruff, muscular man with soot on his scared hands presents me with a dagger, about twenty-five centimetres long, with brown animal leather around the hilt. It looks used, with slight handprints on the leather. Still, it seems sharp and I handle it with care, running my finger along the flat side. _'Surprisingly light...'_

Even better, it comes with it's own sheath, a small iron ring on the side which I assume is to hook it up on a belt or something else.

I beam at the older gentleman. "It is, thank you, Reiki-san!"

Reiki smiles back, shoulders relaxing. "It's no problem. I only regret that I can't make you a new one. It's a hand-me-down, but still wicked sharp and I'm confident it will serve you well, be it for hunting or protecting yourself. Lady Kikyo, is there anything I can do for you?" he adds hopefully to my sister.

Kagome startles, tearing her eyes away from hunting gear hanging on the wall. "O-Oh, um, my name is actually-"

I subtly step on Kagome's foot, talking over her; "Yes, actually. Do you perhaps have a second one of these?"

Kagome scowls at me, which I skilfully ignore. _'Be quiet!'_ I shoot her a pointed look. Obviously, the man is excited to have 'Lady Kikyo' back in his humble shop, so why spit on his good mood and risk owing him more than we have to for the daggers?

Bless the older man, he doesn't bat an eye at our exchange and instead exclaims; "Of course! Just wait a moment, and I'll get it from the back."

"What was that for?" Kagome glowers and hisses once he's disappeared.

"When doing business, you do not correct a wrong in your favour!" I fire back quietly.

Kagome frowns.

"Here you are, Lady Kikyo," the blacksmith returns, placing a near identical dagger of my own in Kagome's hands, smiling warmly. "Is there anything else I can do for you? Anything at all?"

Kagome opens her mouth -to decline any further favours, I'm sure- so once again I cut in before she can:

"Yes, do you maybe have anything for our daggers? To attach it to ourselves, so we don't have to carry it in our hands everywhere we go?" Our school uniforms -stained and filthy as they are now- hardly have pockets after all. I can't remember where our school bags either, although it's not the ideal place to store them even if I did. Not exactly easy and quick accesses, is it?

His smile dampens. "I'm afraid I don't any on hand. I'm sorry, but it will take some time before I can custom make them-"

"Oh, no! That's okay!" Kagome assures him. "You've done so much already. How can we repay you?"

"You have already done so, Lady Kikyo."

_'...Eh?'_

Seeing our confusion, the man sheepishly explains with rubbing the back of his neck; "When I just a young boy, my father and I had run into an oni out in Inuyasha's Forest. My father had a bad back, and I'm ashamed to say I was scared stiff. If Lady Kikyo hadn't stepped in and purified the yokai, I doubt I'd be able to stand here today. Truly, it is _I_ that owe _you,_ so if you or your sister need _anything_ please don't hesitate to ask."

Kagome opens her mouth, then shuts it, obviously embarrassed by the gratitude and not knowing how to respond.

"We'll remember that," I tell the man with a quirk of my lips -perhaps one a little too sharp than I meant it to come across. _'I will, at least.'_ "Thank you again, Reiki-san. Have a good day! Come on," I nudge Kagome, and together leave the blacksmith's.

Every step and slight movement hurts like a right bitch, absolutely _no_ help from the hard, unforgiving wooden floor that I apparently slept on for two whole days. Kaede has already taken care of my cuts and bruises as best as she can, so the only thing that I can do is keep a stiff upper lip and walk the pain off. Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow, but if I learned anything from six years in Judo...

"You shouldn't take advantage of them," Kagome scolds me as we walk.

"I am _not,"_ I argue, wincing when I accidentally pull a muscle at the back of my neck. I hate it when Kagome looks at me like that -she looks too much like Mama for my tastes, and it makes quilt worm itself inside me. But I refuse to feel bad this time. "Who was the one who took all of their food, so much that they bugged Inuyasha into eating some because it was too heavy to carry?"

"That's different! They kept insisting! They wouldn't let me say no!" she flushes.

I arch a brow. "Oh, and Reiki-san hadn't been insistent that we take them for free? It's not like we made him slave over brand new ones, Kagome. He said it himself that they're old!"

She pouts and huffs, facing away from me as she concedes my point but unwilling to admit it. Meanwhile I check myself over, before settling on slipping my new sheathed dagger in the front of my bra. _'The things you can hide here...'_

Speaking of Inuyasha...Where is he?" I wonder.

Honestly, I'm not positive on how I feel about the half-yokai. On one hand, he killed the creepy centipede and saved my sister's life -probably mine, too- but on the other hand he also attempted to kill Kagome, all for the sake of the jewel! Maybe if I talk to him, properly this time, I'll have a better chance figuring out how to move forward...

"Who cares?" she scoffs. "We should be trying to figure out how to get home."

_'Point.'_ "The Dry Well?"

"The Dry Well."

* * *

You know, in hindsight, I really ought to have expected this.

But hindsight is a fucking bitch, so when Kagome and I walk into 'Inuyasha's' forest and find the old Well that started all of your problems -minding our own business, might I fucking add- three guys come out absolutely _no where_ and attack us.

Two men grab Kagome from behind and slap a hand over her mouth, and one other tries to do the same to me. But unlike Kagome who gasps and freezes in fear, I promptly jab my sharp elbow in my attacker's gut and throw my head back as hard as I can.

The man yelps and jerks away, a hand on his nose with blood slipping through his thick fingers. I waste to time in grabbing his collar, his arm, and kicking his right foot from under him while throwing him down on the ground.

"Hey!"

One of the men restraining Kagome lets go to tackle me, and I go down with a grunt and searing pain shooting up my tailbone.

"Get her!"

One of them snatches my wrists and pins them above my head, and the other one keeps my hips down and holds my legs together to stop me from flailing and kicking.

_'Oh Kami, oh Kami, oh-'_

I open my mouth to scream but instead choke on a filthy, ashy cloth when it's shoved inside my mouth.

_'No! No, no, no, no, no-'_

Another cloth is tied around my head, in order to keep the first one in, despite my best effort otherwise.

"Let's go already! Before someone comes!" The one holding Kagome orders the other two harshly.

Kagome whimpers, and I try to breath and see through the tears in my eyes.

* * *

Our attackers end up dragging us to an old, abandoned and run-down shrine where more of their kind lay in waiting. They force us down on our stomachs, in front of a large, pale dude in red armour and with his face hidden in the shadows.

"Oowww!" Kagome hisses when her cheek is pressed against the floorboard.

"Boss! I captured her just like you ordered!" The man holding Kagome announces proudly, before cautiously letting up and sitting back on his hunches.

My two guys don't. In fact, they tighten their grip on my arms and legs.

"She was with this one, so we had to grab her too, boss," one of my guys adds unnecessarily. "I think she broke Yoshi's nose!"

_'Good!'_

The fat one in blue chuckles as he kneels next to Kagome, leering and eyeing her backside. "They have some really strange clothes." He lifts up her skirt, and I swear my drops stops dead right then and there. "What's this flimsy wrap-around?" he wonders to himself.

"Eeek!" Kagome squeals, slapping the fat one's meaty hand away and scrambling away from them. "Cut it out, you pervert! And let my sister go!"

"Well, you asked for it; exposing yourself like that!" The one with a long scar over his right eye claims.

_'Oh Kami, oh Kami, oh-'_

"You wanna marry me?" the one standing between Scar Face and Fat One leers, looking her up and down, pausing on her exposed legs.

_'Dear Kami, please don't let-'_

"Wh-Who _are_ you guys?" Kagome demands shrilly with her hands on the back of her skirt protectively.

"Give me the Jewel..." 'Boss's' head rolls to the side as he groans, causing my air to stand on end.

_'Something's not right with that one.'_ I tense when the boss stands, lumbering toward almost as if drunk. _'Go, Kagome! Go! Run, you stupid girl!'_

The boss takes out his sword from it's sheath.

Buzzing fills my ears, like a thousand angry bees, and my chest and throat constricts, making it hard to breath- The hands on my body clamp on tighter-

"Hey, wait!" Kagome struggles against the two bastards that hold Kagome again, placing her in front like some kind of offering. "Shika!"

"Hey, Boss! Slice 'er in half in one swift stroke!" One of the men laughs cruelly.

"Let! Me! Go! Shikaaaa!"

"Heh, start saying your prayers!"

He raises his gleaming sword, high up in the air and swings -striking down one of Kagome's guys down.

"Made a mistake..." the boss _smiles._ He slowly turns his head towards me, like a fucking possessed doll from a horror movie.

And now _everyone_ is running and screaming.

"Shika! Come on! Get _up!"_ Kagome snaps me out of my stupor, hauling me up by my arm and barely managing to move out of the way of a fallen statue.

"Boss! Where ya aiming at?! It's them you want, not us!"

"Let's go!" I yank on Kagome's arm, jerking her in the direction of the exit and our freedom. We run towards it, with the other men on our heels and a couple in front.

"AAHH!"

I slip backwards on a stay piece of wood in my hast to stop, narrowly avoiding the crumbling rocks of walls and wooden pillars from the boss's onslaught of the building, swinging his sword this way and that way.

_'I'm going to die!'_

"Shika!" Kagome lunges forward to catch me.

"The Jewel...Give me the Sacred Jewel..."

My eyes snapped to Kagome's neck, where she clutches the dammed thing in her hand. We lock eyes. Without thinking I snatch it from her, pulling until the thin string snaps and I have the necklace in my hand.

Kagome gasps.

"Hey! Ugly! You want this?!" I shout, waving my hand in the air wildly.

The boss locks onto my fist, his great body swaying side to side. "The Sacred Jewel..."

"Goooo _get it!"_ I throw hard over top of the rumble, hearing it clink and clank onto the other side.

"Shika!"

The boss roars, charging at us with his sword raised high.

"AAAHH!"

"EEEKK!"

"MOVE!"

Kagome I, and the guys trample over ourselves to get out of the line of fire, but just then a blur of white suddenly jumps over the pile of rumble and zooms past us, punching the boss in the face!

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cries out, shocked.

I'm shocked, too.

"Is the Jewel safe?!" Is the first thing Inuyasha demands, standing in between certain death and us.

"Ah..." she glances at me.

"I'm asking if the Sacred Jewel is safe!" he shouts when neither of us immediately answers.

But then the boss slowly gets back up, groaning, and everyone's attention zeros onto him.

"Urg, what's that putrid smell!?" Inuyasha complains, a red sleeve blocking his nose.

"Right, well, I'll leave this to you! Come on, Kagome!" I squeak, tugging harshly on Kagome's arm. Everyone else has already sized the opening to climb the rumble to freedom, and Kagome and I waste no further time in following suit.

We don't stop once outside the broken shrine, though. We keep running, with no further thought in my mind other than putting more and more distance between the battle and us. We run until all we can see around us is trees, there's blood in the back of our throats, and our legs are trembling too much for a single step more.

I pant, my lungs on fire as I lean against a tree trunk and my knees buckle. Across from me on a different tree, Kagome huffs and puffs while sliding down to the ground herself.

"A-Are...You...Okay, 'Gome?"

"I...I think so," she manages.

"Let's try to, ah, avoid any more kidnappings, yeah?"

Kagome laughs breathlessly.

We sit there for who knows how long, listening to the leaves sway in the breeze, smelling the earthy scents, and with a root poking my bum as we try get our breathing normal and wrap our minds around recent events. Could have been five minutes, or five hours or all that I noticed.

Eventually, my ears pick up some fast, thundering footsteps in the direction we ran away in. I tense, half expecting to see the boss or any of the other kidnappers, but to my immense relief I see Inuyasha jumping and flying towards us.

_'Oh, thank fucking Kami. I don't think I can take anymore surprises!'_

He makes a beeline for Kagome. "Where's the Jewel?" he demands again, eyes narrowed and body strung taut.

_'Oh, we're good! No injuries to worry about, other than emotional trauma, thanks for asking!'_ I keep my sarcastic thoughts to myself and my mouth shut though, because no matter how rude or insensitive he may be, his concern is valid. Plus, I owe him my _life._

That fact tastes like vanilla extract -you'd think it'll be sweet, but it burns bitterly all the way down my throat.

Kagome meets my eye. "Ah, well, you see..." she chuckles awkwardly, subtly shifting away from Inuyasha.

"I have it here, _relax,"_ I tiredly wave my left hand before he can pop a vain.

"What?" Kagome gapes. "But I saw you throw it! I _heard_ you throw it!"

I smirk, letting my head rest against the rough bark as I open my hand for them to see. "I _pretended_ to throw it. What I actually threw was the string and the little beads on it."

Was I smug little shit? Oh, _absolutely!_

_'Take that, you fucker!'_

I'm in the middle of basking in Kagome's slack jaw, dumbfounded expression -and is that a smudge of respect in Inuyasha's eye?- when something black suddenly bursts out of the bush on my right with a loud cry, snatching the jewel up from my open palm and flying away with it.

_'...EEEHH!?'_

"The Jewel!"

"Oh, no!"

Inuyasha glares at me with the powers of all nine circles of Hell. "Nice going, idiot!" he snaps at me.

I flinch.

"Come on! Follow me!" He yanks Kagome up and over his back before taking off for the bird.

"H-Hey! Wait a second!" she protests wide-eyed.

And then they were no more than a mere speck in the distance in a matter of seconds.

"Right...I'll just...Stay here," I say into the empty space lamely. I groan into my knees. _'Idiot, idiot, idiot!'_

* * *

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	3. The Wishing Well

"Okay, let me get this straight," I begin slowly, my eyes boring into Kagome as she fidgets nervously. "A _corpse crow_ was inhabiting the supposed 'boss' that kidnapped us. Inuyasha let him get away-"

"Oi!"

"-And then when the crow stole the jewel from me, you guys tried to shoot the yokai down. But he swallowing it, and in the end _you,_ Kagome, shattered the jewel into a million itsy bity little pieces, scattered across the land when you tried to kill the crow. And in the amidst of all that, you managed to save a kid from drowning, too."

"Technically, it wasn't Kagome who shattered it, but the crow's foot she attached to her arrow that _actually_ caused it," Kaede corrects gently.

_'...Which is still Kagome's doing.'_

"And it wouldn't have happened at all if _you_ didn't let the crow take it in the first place!" Inuyasha barks at me.

I grimace, because that's true and I have no excuse. I got too cocky and let my guard down.

"However it came to be, all it will take is one shard in the wrong hands to bring disaster," Kaede says sagely, grimly. "Kagome, Shika, and Inuyasha, only by working together will the three of ye be able to recover the shards of the Jewel."

I balk. "But that'll take _years,_ if we even manage it in this lifetime!" No _way_ am I wasting my life on some wild goose chase -I plan on finding a way back home, thank you very much!

"Shika..." Kagome starts.

"And so it may," Kaede agrees simply.

I grit my teeth as my annoyance flares.

"Feh, I don't care how long it takes. I'll find them all no matter what it takes!"

Kagome and I share a glance.

"I'm sorry, I think I missed something," I turn to the arrogant, smirking Inuyasha. "I understand that you want the jewel like everyone else, but _why?_ Is it just for the power?"

"To be full yokai, of course!" he scoffs with his hands behind his head. "Got a problem with that?" he sneers at me.

"No," I answer honestly.

This seems to startle him, and he unclasps his hands to look at me proper. "What? Really? Why?"

I shrug, thinking of all the damage and devastation that the centipede monster created, and how the crow was able to manipulate people. I recall the gut-wrenching fear that gripped me then, of how utterly helpless I was despite all the years of training and hard work I've put myself through in my Era...There's just no comparing a human to a yokai, or even half yokai as I've seen a glimpse of with Inuyasha. And in the type of world that we live in -most prominently here in this time- where it's survival of the fittest...

"I can understand wanting to be the strongest, to protect yourself if nothing else," I tell him simply.

"But I'd be _a full yokai,"_ he presses, ears flat and golden eyes narrowed. "Doesn't that disgust you? The fact that I'm trying to become one of _them?"_

"Look, you're not going to find me singing the race of yokai praises anytime soon, and I find the idea of facing against one - _again_ \- absolutely terrifying, but..." I shrug helplessly, feeling rather self-conscious under his intense staring. "You want to be strong, right? No matter what -because it's either you're strong enough to live another day, or you're weak and die. There's no shame in wanting to live."

Inuyasha doesn't seem to have a response to that.

* * *

Early next morning, Kagome wakes me up to go bathing. With my utterly filthy school uniform, grime on my skin, and who knows what else in my tangled hair, I'm all too happy to agree.

"What are we going to wear in the meantime?" I wonder, picking at the torn edge of my green skirt.

Absentmindedly, I wonder if Mama will be able to get the grass stains out and stitch the clothes up or if I'll have to get a new one altogether.

"We can ask Kaede-san," Kagome offers, and so we do.

We find Kaede out around back, tending to her small garden.

"Um, Kaede-san?" Kagome speaks up.

"Yes, child?" She asks without looking away from her weeds.

"Well, Shika and I are hoping to take a bath in the stream and wash our clothes. Is there anything for us to wear while our clothes dry?"

Kaede turns to look at us rather owlishly. "You wish to go into the stream?"

"Yes."

"Are yeh sure?"

_"Yes."_

And that's how Kagome and I end up freezing our cute little butts off while Kaede dries our wet uniforms over an open fire a few feet away. The morning air was chilly to begin with, but I had foolishly hoped that with the sun overhead the water might be warmer.

But if I was fool for hoping...

"Come on, Shika! Just get it over with!"

I eye my naked sister, who is shaking like a leaf, as she stands hip-deep in the icy waters. If I was a fool for hoping, Kagome is an even bigger fool for going _in_ even after feeling how cold it is.

"No thanks," I respond dryly. I'm crouching by the fire, dressed in the old Priestess robes that Kaede had lent me while I tried to warm my numb and frozen body, having wiped away as much dirt and grime off my skin with a wet cloth. My sponge bath might not have taken care of my hair, but unlike my mildly mysophobic twin I can last a little longer before washing it.

"Come, child, yeh'll catch sick if you don't get out," Kaede adds.

Kagome sinks deeper into the waters, so that it's up to her shoulders. "I can't! I'm covered with blood and dirt. I feel like my hair wasn't been washed in a _week!_ And a sponge bath _isn't_ going to cut it!" She whines, adding the last bit pointedly to me.

Mysophobic, I'm telling you.

I roll my eyes. "Let her freeze," I tell Kaede.

Kaede sighs as Kagome dives completely in.

_'Crazy girl.'_

A soft _thump!_ sound cause my ears to perk up, and I turn to glance up on the overhanging hill behind me. My eyes almost bug out when I see a bored looking Inuyasha sitting by the edge.

"Inuyasha!"

He glances down to me. "What?" he asks rudely.

"You can't be here! Go! Shoo! Shoo!" I stand and wave my hands at him, as if dismissing an annoying cat.

"Eh? And why not?" he bristles, glaring.

My eyes flicker worriedly to the waters. "Because! Kagome is going to come out soon, and she's naked, you dumb cat!"

"C-Cat?!" Inuyasha is clearly offended, growling; "I ain't no mangy cat, stupid wench! I'm part _dog_ yokai, you hear?! _Inuyokai!_ "

_'Wench? Oh, when I get up there-'_

"Eeek!"

Both Inuyasha and I's head snap back towards the stream, just in time to catch Kagome dive shoulder-deep back into the waters.

"Sit, boy!"

_BAM!_

I curse and scramble backwards, avoiding some of the pebbles that flew when Inuyasha hit the rocky ground face first. _'Kami, that's gotta hurt!'_ I knew it must be painful when Kagome first told me about her new 'training' ability when I woke up yesterday, but _geese!_ I never thought it was this bad!

"Thee alright, Inuyasha?" Kaede inquires, looking only mildly concerned.

I would have gotten a broken nose and a couple of teeth knocked out from a fall that great _at least,_ but Inuyasha only has a small amount of dirt on his grimacing face when he lifts his head. "Forgot about this stupid necklace of yours," he mutters as he pulls fruitlessly on it.

Like, _damn,_ that's some bone density!

In all of the dramatics, Kagome has escaped behind a tall bush. "It serves you right for spying on Shika and me, you peeping tom!" she huffs angrily, pulling her own robes on.

"Ah... Ha! Shows what _you_ know," he scoffs, turning his head away. "The real reason I came was to-"

I narrow my eyes. _'He hesitated.'_

"Ye really came to steal this, correct?" Kaede finishes for him, holding up the single jewel shard in our possession.

"Think you're pretty smart, you old hag," Inuyasha all but agrees as he sits up with his back facing the rest of us.

"I see. Ye think to do it alone, do ye? Ye forget that only Kagome can find those shards, while ye, Inuyasha, have strength enough to take them back once found."

 _'And I suppose I'm simply chopped liver, aren't I?'_ Not that I plan on sticking around and actually spend the rest of my life trying to search the whole goddamned land, that is. The second Kagome and I find a way home we're _gone._

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm still here, ain't I?" he says brattishly. "I can put up with _anything_ for the Jewel."

"Brilliant," I can't help but drawl dryly. "I'll be the brains, Kagome will be the GPS, and you'll be the brawns."

"G-P-S what?" Inuyasha blinks at me owlishly.

"You really hate me, don't you?" Kagome fumes, hands on hips as she steps out from behind the bush. I can see the slight hurt in her eyes, though. It usually bothers her when people don't like her, even if it's just a little hurt. "Whatever," she mumbles a few seconds later, dismissing the oddly silent Inuyasha to shake some of the water out of her uniform top.

"Lady Kaede?" A middle-aged woman with a sleeping infant strapped to her back steps into the clearing, eyeing Inuyasha warily.

"Mitsu-san?" Kaede questions, immediately standing up to walk towards her. "What can I do for thee?"

"It's my daughter; she's terribly sick and I don't know what to do," the woman explains anxiously.

Kaede looks to the sleeping infant, but Mitsu shakes her head. "My oldest, Kameko. Please, will you come take a look? Nothing I've tried has worked, and she's been getting worse by the day."

"I see," Kaede says soberly. "I will be happy to see what I can do for the young Kameko-chan." She then addresses the rest of us; "I will be checking on the three of ye later. Try not to fight."

We watch the two women walk away, and when they're far enough to be out of earshot, I realize that it's a little awkward with Inuyasha here without Kaede as a buffer. For me, at least. I'm just about the suggest to Kagome that we try the Well again when Inuyasha speaks first:

"Hey."

"What?" I ask him.

But he ignores me in favour of staring up at Kagome from his sitting position, expression blank. "Get undressed," he orders her.

 _"What?"_ I gape at the sheer _nerve_ of the boy!

"OW!" he yelps, cradling his abused skull as Kagome -quicker than light- takes a big rock and hits the top of his head with it. "That _hurt!"_ He snaps angrily. "Why did you-"

"You're such a pig!" Kagome scowls.

"Real classy," I comment, equally as disgusted.

"I didn't say 'get naked,' stupid!" he exclaims, pointing at our drying clothes. "I just can't stand seeing you in those clothes!"

"Why? Because I look like Kikyo?" Kagome fires back. "You don't seem bothered by Shika wearing the same clothes!"

 _'Or it's because he only has the hots for you.'_ The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow them back. In all seriousness, if seeing Kagome in the Priestess robes really does bring back memories for Inuyasha, they're bound to be the terrible type. Still... "You could have started with that, idiot. Wouldn't have made you sound like a pervert," I snip.

"Like I'd even _want to_ see either of you," he sneers. "And it got nothing to do with Kikyo, anyways."

Kagome and I share a knowing look. _'Even Sota is a better liar.'_ And he's the boy who can't keep a poker face to save his _life._

"Look, I don't want to do this either, okay? But we gotta work together," Kagome sighs.

Inuyasha side-eyes us, retorting arrogantly; _"I_ ain't got to do nothing. It's _you two_ who needs _me."_

His tone makes my hackle rise, hitting my insecurities much too closely for my comfort. "Oh, yes you _do._ If I die because of your non-cooperative, furry butt, I will come back to haunt it!"

I _will not_ die here! No, I refuse! And neither will Kagome!

He just scoffs at me.

Kagome places a hand on my arm, trying to calm me down and hold me from -well, I'm not honestly sure what, but _something_ to the insufferable mutt!

"So you won't care if Shika and I go back home, then?" she challenges him.

His ears twitch, but it isn't until Kagome and I have gathered our clothes that he speaks again:

"Hey, where are you going?"

 _"Home,"_ I snark, not even bothering to look at him. "Are we trying the Well again?" I ask Kagome.

She nods. "It's not like we have any other leads."

True. Terribly, depressingly true. Let's just hope that no creeps try to kidnap us again...

We begin walking away, and Inuyasha jumps up. "Hey!" he protests loudly. "You guys can't just leave! You, you-"

"Try us," I hiss back, glaring and not pausing.

He runs after us, clearly annoyed. "Will you guys just stop for a second?!"

"Why, so you can try to stop us?" Kagome asks sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"No! So you can give me the Jewel shard!"

"Oh, this?" she pulls out a miniature bag, all innocent-like.

I know exactly what she plans on doing a second before she does it.

Inuyasha holds up a sharp clawed hand, but Kagome smirks. "Sit, boy!"

_BAM!_

"Why, you-!" he grunts, struggling to free himself from the necklace's hold on his body.

"My name is _Kagome,_ not 'you'."

He doesn't bother us afterwards, thankfully. Yet a small part of me wishes that he did, as Kagome and I trek our way towards the Dry Well. It's about noon now, with sunlight overhead and nothing but the sound of the forest around us. But it was like that last time, and if nothing else, Inuyasha's presence would have soothed my nerves even just a bit, and no matter how I hate to admit it even to myself only.

I doubt I'll ever feel safe in these woods, no matter what time of day it is.

"Do you think we're almost there?" I wonder nervously, one hand gripping my sheathed dagger tightly as I glance around.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's that way," she jerks her chin towards the west.

Almost ten minutes later, it's a huge relieve for both Kagome and I to see the Well again. I could _kiss it!_ (But I won't, of course. That's just gross.) I eat up the rest of the distance quickly, and peer into the mouth of the Well.

_'That's a bigger jump than I remember...'_

"Mistress Centipede..." Kagome murmurs, seeing what I'm seeing.

I shiver. "We should get the bones out first, before we jump...Just to be safe."

Kagome nods her head in agreement. "Yeah, but how?"

Good question. How _do_ we get the bones out from the bottom without accidentally impaling ourselves? Mmm..."Kagome, do you think you can lower yourself down slowly, using those vines?"

She eyes them warily. "Maybe," she allows. "What about you? You're more athletic than I am."

_Scrreeeech..._

"Oh my, oh me. What do we have here? Two little human Priestesses?"

Dread instantly pools in my stomach, as I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise too late in warning. Kagome and I share an alarmed look before we slowly, carefully turn around.

My breath catches, for the scantly clothed woman before us looks remarkably human if not for the standing still on nothing but air trick.

"Is that...Hair?" Kagome blinks, eyes flickering everywhere.

"What?" _'I can't see anything!'_

The yokai's unnatural eyes widen, looking a tad if begrudgingly impressed. "So you can see it then? Well, at least one of you can," she adds, eyeing me with a slight, condescended smirk on her red lips. "It's too bad that seeing isn't enough..."

"Who are you?" Kagome demands, and I drop my clothes to the ground so that I unsheathe my dagger quicker if need be.

And I have an creeping inkling that I'll be needing it rather soon.

She smiles. (It's not a nice smile.) "I'm Yura of the Hair, though you needn't bother to remember...Because you'll be dead soon!"

_'Dear Kami, I should have dragged Inuyasha with us by the ear!'_

I barely have enough to time to draw to draw my weapon before the yokai throws her hand back, and faster than my eyes can follow, whips the both of us with something unseen and makes the bag fly into her hand.

"Ow!"

"Ah!"

"I'll be having the Jewel, if you don't mind!"

"Hey!"

"Oh! You naughty, naught girl," she tsks, our shard in between her thumb and finger.

"Kagome, let's go already-!" I whisper harshly into her ear, trying to pull her away as the yokai who seems momentarily distracted by her new prize.

_'We gotta get Inuyasha, or else we'll be dead!'_

But Kagome refuses, and in fact takes a bold step forwards.

"You shattered the Jewel!" The yokai continues. "Where is the rest? Tell me, or I shall be cross."

"You give that back!" Kagome -the _idiot-_ demands.

It's all as if I'm watching a horror movie; knowing what's going to happen next, but utterly unable to do a damn thing to stop the oncoming train-wreck.

"Answer the question. Where is the rest of it?" The yokai's voice as turned cold now, as she looks down at us as if we're nothing but dirt underneath her bare foot.

"I...I'm not really sure," Kagome admits hesitantly.

"Oh, well in that case..." the yokai moves to grab the sword at her hip. "I may as well finish you right now!"

I scream, Kagome screams, I try to run but the yokai is too fast -and suddenly my arm is being yanked, and my stomach plummets as I fall down, down, down.

"AAAHH!"

I hit the on the right side of my back, and pain exploding at my hip and the back of my throbbing head. I gasp, hands clutching my head as I curl.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Kagome hisses next to me, and then gasps herself. "Shika! Are you alright?"

"I hit my head," I wince, shying away from her touch as I try to sit up. "I'll be fine. What about you?"

"I'm okay. What happened to Yura?"

"Seeing as she evidently didn't follow us...Rotting in Hell, hopefully."

"Shika! Look up! Do you see that? It's the roof!"

I look up, and indeed there is no blue sky above us. My heart skips a beat, dangerous hope fluttering within me. _'Is this...? Could this be...?'_

"We're home, Shika! We're really home!"

* * *

There aren't any vines for us to climb in this time period, so Kagome and I end up shouting our voices hoarse until Gramps and Sota finally hear us when the sun is setting.

It's a very tearful return, with everyone making a complete mess of themselves -including myself, of course- when we reunite and sit down to tell Mama, Gramps, and Sota _everything._

After some more hugs and kisses on our foreheads, Gramps yammering away, Sota's thousand questions and apologies, Kagome and I eat dinner before talking separate, well-deserved soaks.

When the water starts to become cooler than room temperature two and a half hours later, I drain the tub and take another half hour shower to finally get to the actual washing.

Pruny, warmed to the bone, and utterly relaxed I dry myself off as best as I can before wrapping a towel around myself. I make a beeline for Kagome's room -she has my favourite pair of fuzzy jimmies, and I want them back. But she isn't in her room, so I get changed before padding downstairs.

"Did you have a nice soak, dear?" Mama asks me kindly once I slide the sitting room's door open.

"The best," I smile. "Do you know where Kagome is?"

Mama hesitates, glancing over to the sober looking Grandpa, who is staring into his green tea. Smile faltering, I can't help but notice both of my siblings' absences, and the way that neither Mama nor Gramps will meet my eye.

Dread pools in my stomach, so much like when I heard the hair yokai's voice.

"...Mama? Where's Kagome?"

"Well, Shika, that young boy came to get her and-"

I bolt out the room before she can finish her sentence. Running through the halls, thundering out of the house as I slam the doors open-

Past the Sacred Tree-

My blood runs cold, seeing the shed-sized building that houses the Dry Well. The sliding doors are wide open.

I had closed those doors myself; back when Kagome and I had left together.

"Kagome!"

I skip two steps at a time, rushing in and down, tripping and almost falling in the dirt -I grip the ancient wood, looking down through the mouth of the old Well.

Empty. Absolutely, utter _empty._

Cursing, I don't pause to think twice as I heave myself up on the Well and before pushing off.

I land on dirt, feeling pain shoot up my right ankle as I gasp and stumble.

_'Motherfucker-'_

Looking up, I don't see any stars, a moon, or even clouds. Instead, everything is pitch dark except the thin ray of artificial light creeping on one side of the Well, spilling only an inch into the inside.

I can't find the vines that Kagome and I had used to climb the first time we traveled to the Feduel Era, either, no matter how much or where I run my hands along the stonewalls.

"Kagome!? Inuyasha?!" I shout out desperately, feeling as if cold hands are squeezing my lungs tight. "Kaede-san?!"

"Shika! Shika, dear, are you alright?" Mama's concerned face appears at the top, shinning a flashlight down at me.

_'Oh, Kami-'_

"What are you still doing here, you silly girl?" Gramps demands. "I thought you were chasing after your sister!"

"I-I-"

"Let's get the ladder," Mama tells Gramps.

Once the ladder is let down, I grit my teeth through the twigs of pain in my ankle as I climb up. My mind is swirling, reeling, but I push past the taunting, horrifying thoughts as I concentrate on putting one hand before the other.

"Shika-"

I ignore them, and once I reach the top I jump again.

"Shika!

I stare dumbly at the ground underneath me, my fingers curling in the dirt. My stomach churns, and I barely manage to swallow the bile back as I stare up at Mama and Gramps.

"I-I can't get through..."

* * *

**{Kagome.}**

"So that's what Yura really was," Inuyasha, while putting presser on his bleeding shoulder, limbs forward to comment, eyeing the broken comb in my hands.

With bones digging into my soft flesh as I kneel, I can't help but stare at the broken pieces dumbly. Even as exhaustion weighs down each of my limbs, and my shoulders and upper back aching terribly, I find the energy to ask; "Yura was a comb?"

It sounds absolutely _ridiculous_ to my own ears, and yet...

"Sure," Inuyasha responds easily. "With all that you've seen since you've been here, are you surprised? It probably got powers 'cause it was once used to comb the hair of the dead. Yura didn't really use _it_ so much as _it_ used _her._ "

Ignoring the shiver of disgust thanks to that piece of information... _'No, I guess I'm not.'_ After all, if someone told me that time travel was possible -and that Shika and I were going to teleport into the Feudal Era four days ago, I'd think they were crazy! Never mind that yokai really exists...

 _'Shika...'_ I wince, thinking of my twin who has surely finished her own bath by now. She's going to _kill me_ when she finds out! I can already hear her voice, loud and shrilly as she demands to know where I've been and _what_ on earth I was thinking _going back._

"Uhh!" Inuyasha grunts, suddenly falling into the couch, expression pinched in pain as he clutches his shoulder tighter.

"Inuyasha, that stab in your shoulder-" I jerk forward, ready to help him but he waves me off.

"It's no big deal. What happened to the Scared Jewel?"

I frown. _'Of course that's the first thing that he's worried about! Typical...'_ I crawl up the hill in order to grab the tiny pouch in Yura's clothes, which the wind had blown only a couple feet away from me. "It's here," I assure him, taking out the tiny shard from its bag. "I wonder how long it'll take to find the rest of it," I wonder to myself.

I know Shika doesn't believe it'll be possible to collect all of the jewel shards, and maybe she's right, but if this fight with Yura has taught me anything, it's that we have to _try._ Watching how the villagers were possessed as they were...It's our fault that the jewel is how it is, so it's _our_ responsibility to fix it.

 _'I can't let anymore innocents get hurt because of our mistake,'_ I think to myself resolutely, clutching the shard to my chest.

"Kagome, let's go."

Inuyasha's gruff voice snaps me out of my thoughts, and I blink up at him. "Huh?"

"What?"

My lips stretch into a smile. "You never said my name before," I hum and push off my aching knees to stand.

"Yeah, what of it?" he scowls defensively, ears twitching.

"Nothing. Just that I think you like me more, is all." _'He's kinda cute, when he isn't being annoying or yelling at me. Shika would call him a tsundere.'_

He snorts, turning away from me arrogantly. "Yeah, well, don't get excited. I _still_ think you're pretty useless."

 _'...And he is no longer cute.'_ Grrr, the _nerve_ of him! "Remind me _next time_ not to save you!" I snap back, shoving at his back angrily.

"Urgh!" Inuyasha groans in pain as he falls over.

"If it hurts so much, you should have said something!" _'Seriously! He's as bad as Gramps -no he's_ worse!'

"Just leave me _alone!"_ he whines pitifully.

It takes a long time to get back to the village. But then, when we _do_ get there, and I suggest to Inuyasha that he have Kaede look at his injuries, he suddenly becomes almost sheepish as he says:

"Heh, I _may_ have buried the old hag..."

_"What?!"_

After that near heart attack, we have to _turn around_ so that Inuyasha -the big idiot- can sniff Kaede out, _because he forgot where he buried her._

 _'Oh, poor Kaede-san!'_ I dearly hope she isn't hurt _too_ badly, and that Inuyasha hasn't made her condition _worse!_ She isn't exactly in her prime anymore...

"So yeh _have_ come back," she says -clearly relieved- once we find her, up to her neck in dirt and with a pile of green leaves underneath her head.

"We almost _didn't._ Because _this idiot_ forgot that he buried you in the first place!" I glower at Inuyasha.

"Feh, whatever! We're still here, so what does it matter?" He grumbles.

I can only sigh, not having the energy for anything else.

Although Inuyasha ends up doing most of the work, I nonetheless feel dead on my sore, sore feet and am barely able to keep my eyes open by the time that Kaede is free.

Inuyasha begrudgingly helps Kaede to her hut, while I _finally_ trek towards the Well.

 _'I'm going to need another bath...Not tonight, though. First thing in the morning.'_ Unless it's already the next day -because for how long I've been back, and how late it already was before Inuyasha's showed up at my house, that's entirely possible as well.

Oh, how my nice, warm bed sounds just like absolute _Heaven_ right now!

Once at the Well, I sigh before slipping off and down. A bright, purple light blinds me as cold shivers zip through my body, and I feel my feet gently touch back down on the ground.

I blink and rub my eyes to get rid of the lingering flashes. _'Huh. Looks like either Mama or Gramps put the ladder down for me...'_ That's nice of them. With my arms outstretched, I carefully feel my way to it before beginning to climb.

I gasp, my heart jumping into my throat. For a split second I can't recognize the hunched figure curled up against the outside of the Well, but then I make out Shika's short hair, and her favourite, fuzzy jimmies with a spare blanket around her shoulders as she sleeps. I slump in relief, pulling myself out of the Well so that I loom over her.

 _'What is she...? Has she been waiting for me this whole time?'_ Guilt worms itself into me. _'But then why didn't she come over herself, if she knew I was gone?'_

"Shika...Shika, wake up," I murmur, shaking her shoulder. "Come on, Shika, you can't sleep here." I highly doubt that it's comfortable -especially the way her neck is bent to rest on her shoulder.

"Mmm," Shika mumbles, eyes fluttering open to squint at me.

As soon as she realizes that it's me, her reaction is instantaneous:

"Kagome!" She lunges forward, hitting her forehead on my teeth, but even as I yelp she doesn't hesitate to squeeze my neck with her arms, and would have made me fall over if not for the Well. "Y-You _idiot-!"_

With her shaking against me, her face buried in the crook of my neck...I swallow thickly, feeling all the more worse as we clutch each other and kneel on the ground.

"Ssshhh, it's okay, Shika," I try to soothe, gently rubbing her back. "It's okay, I'm here..."

Long minutes past, until her shaking is subsided and she lifts her face, with red, puffy eyes and a slight runny nose in all its glory. _'Neither of us has ever been a pretty crier.'_

"You _idiot!"_ She snarls, sorrow quick to transform into fiery anger with her nails digging into my shoulders as she shakes me. "Just what the _fuck_ did you think you were doing?! What if -I couldn't" -her voice cracks- "Why did you _go_ _back?!_ What would happen if you weren't able to _come back?!"_

"I had to! Yura -the yokai from earlier- would have killed the whole village if I hadn't!"

"The _hell_ you did!"

I scowl, not liking her accusatory tone at all. "I _did!"_ I defend hotly, untangling myself from her mildly painful grip. "Not even _Inuyasha_ could see the deadly hairs that she used -only I could!" _'What's her deal? She saw Yura herself!'_

"That still doesn't mean you need to risk _your life!"_ she fires back, eyes flashing. "Kami, 'Gome, you may have some sort of Priestess powers, but that doesn't make you _powerful!_ You can't shoot an arrow for _shit_ and-and you stopped coming to Judo practise after the first _month_ because you complained about it being _'too hard'!_ You can't even protect yourself against a human _our age_ -what possessed you to go against a freaking _yokai?!"_

I bristle. "I can _too!_ I'm here, aren't I? I didn't die! I even saved Inuyasha! I'm the one who figured out her weakness!"

"That doesn't matter! You _could have!"_

"I couldn't just let everyone get hurt! And if you're so strong, why didn't _you_ come when you found out?" I demand. "If I'm so weak that I can't protect myself -if I'm so stupid- why didn't you came back for me?!"

"Why? _Why?"_ Her fists trembles at her sides. "Because I _couldn't!"_

"You could too-"

"No, _I couldn't!"_

I shut my mouth, something about her making me pause.

She continues, heaving, and with sheer _desperation_ seemingly to pour out of every word; "I couldn't get pass the Well, Kagome. _I couldn't._ I _tired_ -again and again- _I tried,_ but it wouldn't let me!" Her voice cracks again, and the sound of it -the tears building in her glossy eyes- causes guilt to fester inside of me, so much like poison. "Don't you understand, Kagome? Y-You were _gone_ and-and I _couldn't get to you!_ I-You were just _gone._ I didn't even know if you were _alive_ and I-I-!"

 _'Oh, Shika...'_ "I'm sorry," I whisper, feeling the burn of shame as pressure builds up behind my own eyes, throat closing painfully. "I, I didn't know...You were so tired, and I didn't want...There wasn't any _time,_ Shika." I gather her back into my arms, and she sobs into my shoulder.

"You're such an idiot," she cries quietly, muffled by my shirt as she grips the back of my sweater fiercely. "Don't you dare leave me like that again, you hear? Never again."

"Never again," I promise soberly. "Next time I'll take you with me, no matter what."

Shika stills in my arms. "What?" she whispers.

I wince, partly hating myself for telling her _now,_ when she's so upset, but knowing she's not going to like the news no matter how long I wait. "Ah, well...I _may have_ told Inuyasha and Kaede-san that I'll be coming back tomorrow, in order to find the other Jewel shards..."

She snaps back to look at my face, utterly horrified. "But you _just said_ that you were never going back!"

"No, I said I wouldn't leave you behind...Shika, you have to understand, I _have to do this._ It's my fault that the Jewel was shattered, and my fault that hundreds can _die_ for my mistake!"

 _"Like Hell!"_ She wrenches away from me, practically foaming at the mouth even as fat tears continue to roll down her cheeks. "Yeah, you made a mistake, and yeah, it's a pretty freaking big one, but that _still_ doesn't mean that you need to give up your _life!_ You may have gotten lucky with Yura-whoever, but luck isn't always going to save you! This-This isn't some kind of adventure anime, Kagome! It's not some fictional world where the hero always saves the day, where true love and friendship or whatever else crap pulls through and it's happily ever after! It's _real life!_ And in real life, ignorant, arrogant people and naive little girls _die!"_

"Please, Shika! Inuyasha can-"

"Inuyasha is only _one person!_ Inuyasha tried to _kill you,_ and only later saved us because of the damn jewel!" she cuts me off scathingly. "Do you honesty think that our enemies are going to come at us one at a time? What's to happen if a group comes, and Inuyasha is too busy fighting one to save us from another? What _then,_ Kagome? What, are you going to flutter your eyelashes and ask them to spare us, pretty please?"

My own anger rises within me, hot and consuming, washing away the earlier guilt and shame. "No! I have Priestess powers now, I'm going to learn how to use _them!_ And-And Mama already said I could!"

 _'Where did my sister go?'_ For all long as I could remember, Shika has always been the brave and daring one. Sure, I know I'm plenty brave myself, but compared to _Shika-?_

Even as a little kid, Mama always said that I was never afraid to speak my mind, or to involve myself in another's affairs. But Shika was the one, who while kept her thoughts and opinions to herself more, didn't hesitate to throw down with whomever. She was the one to tackle the rude boy in kindergarten, when he purposefully stuck gum in my hair, or who spent _one week_ with our awful second grade teacher, and promptly decided that both she and I would switch classes, or not attend school at all. (She got in a lot trouble with the school for constantly skipping class and dragging me along, and Mama wasn't pleased to hear the equal amount of disrespect that she had given to our second grade teacher and the Principle when they tried to make us stay. It wasn't until she enforced five other students to complain to their parents before we and the other students were moved to a different classroom.)

Shika was the one to get that sparkle in her eye after the first Judo class, and who wouldn't stop grinning like a loon before and after every competition.

People always comment how Shika is the more responsible one. The more dedicated, competitive, and thoughtful one. So where is that same twin _now?_ Where is the person that tries to run for Class Representative, the one that stepped up and admitted to accidentally breaking a play prop instead of hiding it? _The one who told me that you have to own up to your mistakes, no matter what?_

Shika looks like she's swallowed a lemon, opening her mouth but then snapping it shut in the next second. Without another word she spins on her heal and storms away.

"H-Hey! Shika!" I run after her, reaching for her arm but she doges it. "Where are you going?" I demand, although I already have a good guess.

She doesn't so much as glance at me as she marches inside the house, and up the stairs to Mama's bedroom. I flinch when she slams the poor door open, jerking Mama awake.

"W-Wha-?"

"Mama!" Shika barks, at the foot of the bed, "Did you say that Kagome could go to the past _again?_ That she could _risk her life_ for some stupid jewel shards even after barely surviving the hair yokai?"

"That's not true!" I protest. _'She's purposefully trying to worry Mama more so that she'll stop me!'_ I fume. "Inuyasha and I won! And, well, maybe Inuyasha got hurt...But as you can see I didn't _die!_ Shika is exaggerating, Mama!" _'She really isn't, though,'_ the traitorous voice in my head whispers. In the one that's downplaying it.

Mama's expression seems to de-age twenty years by simply seeing me. "Kagome, dear, I'm so relieved to see that you're alright," she says sincerely, with just a little bit of gloss in her eyes as she instantly gets out of bed to hug me tight.

Shika crosses her arm and glares at us, tapping her foot and still spitting mad. "Well?" She demands. "Did you say she could go back to the past _again,_ Mama?"

Mama lets me go, with a comforting hand still on my shoulder, to address Shika. "I did," she freely admits. "I trust both you and your sister. I've raised you two to have a good head in your shoulders, and that Inuyasha boy seems like the strong and noble sort."

Shika looks like she's about to burst a vain. "Did you forget that _Inuyasha boy_ tried to kill Kagome the first day they met?!" She cries loudly. "He only cares about the stupid jewel!"

"He has the beads, though!" I immediately protest, turning to Mama desperately. "And you should have seen him tonight, Mama! He protected me! He really did! He also saved your life, too, Shika!"

She ignores me, eyes locked into Mama. "You can't honestly let her do this! Within _four days,_ we got kidnapped _twice_ and almost died _three times!_ She'll be dead within a week!"

"No I won't! Don't listen to her, Mama! If I don't help collect all of the shards, hundreds could get hurt and even die! It's my fault it got broken, so I need to fix it! Didn't you teach us to always fix our mistakes?"

"That's different, and you know it! Other mistakes don't get us _killed!"_

"Yeah, and what if we don't?" I finally challenge hotly. "What if I do as you say, and I don't collect all of the shards? It could destroy the present!"

Shika clenches her jaw. "If we didn't notice any changes when we first got back, then you're obviously not needed! The present is proof that time survives without you butting into the past where you don't belong!"

"Or it's _because_ I go back that everything is fine!" I snap back, glaring fiercely.

Shika don't have a counter for that, instead just stands there and fumes.

"Girls, please don't fight," Mama cuts in, placing her other hand on Shika's shoulder. "Shika, dear, I understand your worries. But you must have faith in your sister. She is a capable young girl, just like you."

Shika rips away from Mama's touch, snarling; "And you seem to forget that she is, in fact, just a _young girl_ as you say."

"Shika!"

She ignores Mama and I, storming away and slamming her bedroom door moments after.

"Give her some time, Kagome," Mama tells me with a small sigh and tired eyes. "It really scared her when she wasn't able to travel over like you."

It's all I can do to swallow the lump in my throat and nod mutely.

* * *

_'I'm in a family full of idiots!'_

Scowling, I beat my pillow some more before throwing myself face first onto my bed, muffling my scream of frustration.

Why am I the only one to have a lick of sense in this household?! Like, seriously! What about a fifteen old year old with no formal training travelling 500 years into the past -a _yokai_ infested past, might I add- sounds even remotely like a good idea?!

Gramps has usually been on the senile side of things, especially in these later years -but _Mama?_ Why is she agreeing to this crazy-

 _'Am I wrong?'_ I can't help but wonder miserably, despite myself. _'If even Mama agrees with Kagome, am I overreacting?'_

I can still see that determined fire in Kagome's eyes, burning brightly as they contrast the aching desperation in her voice. " _I have to do this. It's my fault that the Jewel was shattered, and my fault that hundreds can die for my mistake!"_ She had yelled at me.

People have always commented how _optimistic_ and _selfless_ Kagome is, growing up...Optimistic, selfless, sweet Kagome. Oh, sure, she has a right temper -out of the two of us, she's always had the shorter fuse- but while she has less patience, she's also twice as forgiving as I'll ever be.

Me? I'm not nearly so sweet. I'm sour. Cynical, selfish, sour me. I don't wear my heart on my sleeve like Kagome. I keep it close to my chest, just like my long-held grudges.

Kagome was the one who offered a crying six-year-old girl her ice cream at the park when we were ten. She's the one who jumps at the chance to help a stranger with a heavy load, be it a peer, teacher, or someone struggling out on the street. Or that time she caught the flu, and spent the next week apologizing with words and a batch of homemade cookies for each three other classmates when she missed the group presentation for class.

While I silently fumed and held onto my bitter anger towards an old friend for accidentally destroying our shared movie disc - _our favourite movie disc-_ even six months after the fact, Kagome had already forgiven them at the end of the day.

She's like the sun; bright, warm, forever burning and you can't help but get pulled in.

And for whatever that makes me, I'm always orbiting around her. Cynical, selfish, sour me that's never too far away because she's too optimistic, too selfless, and too sweet. Too _naive-_

_"If I don't help collect all of the shards, hundreds could get hurt and even die!"_

_'Is it so terrible to want to stay? So selfish and wrong -evil, even- to prioritize my and mine lives over strangers?'_

Kagome isn't going to give up. I knew it when she shouted it at me at the Well, and I know it now. Her promise to me be damned. Because just like the sun, you're more likely to get burnt than to tame her.

 _'I don't want to die.'_ I can still feel the centipede monster's squeezing my rib cage, her hot breath on my face, the pounding of my heart as I ran from the walking and club-wielding corpse, and hear Yura's taunting, sickeningly sweet voice ringing in my ears.

 _"Or it's_ because _I go back that everything is fine!"_

_'I don't want to die. But I don't want Kagome to die either.'_

* * *

**{Kagome.}**

It's seven o' clock on the dot when I'm shaken awake.

"Huh...Shika?" I croak, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I try to focus.

Her jaw is set stubbornly, and her forest green eyes narrowed in that hard, unreadable way as she looms over me. Like a solider preparing for war. But just as I ready myself for another onslaught of arguments, she surprises me by saying:

"I'm coming with you."

"What?" is my intelligent response.

Shika narrows her eyes further, straightening and folding her arms over her chest with her slim shoulders back. "I said; I'm coming with you. But I have a couple of conditions first."

I rise up on my elbows. "What?" I ask, licking my dry lips nervously, even while hope blooms within.

She holds up a single digit. "Number one, we're still doing school. And if either of us fail a grade then we're _both_ dropping the past."

I hesitate on the last part. I had plan on continuing school of course, but what if I can't keep up after all? "If either of us fail a grade, then we'll stop until we graduate," I bargain instead.

Shika purses her lips. "Fine," she concedes grudgingly and holds up a second finger. "Second, you're learning some self-defence. Or so help me I will tie you down to this bed and burn down the stupid Well myself!"

"Okay," I agree with a smile and pull her into my arms, feeling so ridiculously relived and happy that I could fly. "Thank you, Shika."

She grumbles but hugs me back. "You owe me _big time_ for this, you hear? _Big. Time._ "

I can't help but laugh.

* * *

**If you'd like to review, but don't know what to say, please answer these questions:**

**1.** How do you feel about Shika's side of the argument? And what about Kagome's side?

**2.** What was your favourite part?

**3.** What was your least favourite part?

**4.** Do you see any mistakes? (If so, please point them out so that I can fix them immediately.)

**5.** Do you have any questions?


	4. Grave Robbing 101

"Yo, Imouto, you got everything?" I ask Kagome, slipping into her room.

"Yep!" She beams, spinning on her heel to face me with her hands on hips. Behind her on the bed is her hideous yellow hiking backpack and rolled up blue sleeping bag.

Not that I can talk myself -not with my matching orange backpack on my own shoulders. (Let me assure you that neither one of _us_ chose the colour. That would be Gramps, thank you very much.)

"Got the first aid? Spare clothes, bug spray, mess kit, flashlight, dagger, water bottle, snacks, toothbrush, hair brush, soap-"

 _"Yes,_ Mama," she rolls her eyes at me. "Do you want to see for yourself?" she mocks.

"I do, in fact," I sniff haughtily. I step forward and open her backpack to dump it all -ignoring her indignant squawk. _'_ _Toothbrush, tooth paste, bug spray, socks-'_ I purse my lips into a thin line, spotting the skirt in the pile and then eyeing Kagome's current attire of a dark blue shirt, light blue skirt, high white socks and flats. "A skirt, seriously, Kagome?" I sigh.

I myself dug up knee-length jean shorts, a green short sleeved shirt and my old hiking ankle-boots.

She looks offended. "It's cute," she tires to defend, crossing her arms.

"It's _stupid,_ " I retort harshly. "Do you _want_ to give everyone and their mother an eyeful? We'll be travelling and fighting, not going on a date," I remind her.

"But it's too hot for pants!"

"Then go change into shorts, I don't care! But you ain't wearing a skirt -and change into some runners, at least!"

Kagome scowls at me, and I simply arch a brow at her, unmoved.

"Fine!" she huffs and stomps to her closest. "But you're packing my bag!"

I roll my eyes at her dramatics before returning to my task. _'Hair brush, Shampoo, PJs, bra...Mmm, maybe we should pack some pads just in case...A towel, too.'_ I raise my brows, noticing the tiny red bottle hiding underneath the plastic plate in the knotted mess kit bag. "Nail polish?" I stare at her.

She avoids meeting my eyes by pulling her jean shorts up. She just shrugs, not saying a word.

 _'Whatever,'_ I decide. I stretch out a waiting hand and Kagome hands me another pair of shorts, which I stuff into her backpack. "When was your last period?" I ask her.

"Ehhh, it should be coming next week, I think."

I nod. "Alright, I think that's everything then. Can you go get us a couple of towels? Oh! And a compass!"

"You worry too much, Shika. We're only going to be gone for two days! And we can always come back if we forget anything." Kagome sighs and shakes her head at me, but nonetheless goes to do as I ask.

 _'No I don't. You don't worry_ enough!' I mentally grumble, putting her stuff back in the bag. At the last second I snatch a sweater from her closet in case she gets cold at night.

Like, seriously, I haven't even been in the past for a single _week,_ and I already nearly died at least three times! And kidnapped _twice!_ I don't even want to think about how many times _Kagome_ skimmed death! Girl doesn't possess a single self-preservation bone in her body, I swear...

I suppose I don't have nearly as much self-preservation as I thought I did myself, either, since I'm going back with her...

Once we're all packed and I've triple checked everything -making sure I have enough plastic water bottles, two rolls of toilet paper, the old book all about yokai folklore from Gramp's personal library, and our compact umbrellas among other things in my own backpack- we say our goodbyes to our family, and lug our stuff, bikes, and four-person tent over to the Dry Well.

Staring at the shabby thing, I touch my dagger hanging by my hip, attached to the thin, sparkly belt that I've had since I was eight. (My _only_ belt.) And then double check the small pocket knife that I slipped into my sports bra.

 _'Stupid Well,'_ I think, recalling how _Inuyasha_ and Kagome are 'special' enough to be able to teleport back and forth, but apparently _I'm_ not. Not without help, at least.

"Are you ready? I think I should drop you and our bags first, that way you can help me with the bikes on the other side," Kagome muses.

I swallow my bitter emotions, glancing away from the Well. "Sounds good to me," I agree hollowly. I heave my backpack higher up my shoulder and clutch my black sleeping bag closer to my chest, taking Kagome's hand in mine. "On the count of three?"

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

We jump.

Suddenly landing on the other side and falling on my butt, blinking away the flashes of blinding, purple light, I don't think I'll ever get used to the sensation of time travelling.

_'Alice ain't got nothing on us.'_

"Took ya two long enough!" Inuyasha's head pops into view from the mouth of the Well, visibly annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah," I dismiss his nagging with a wave of my hand, pushing myself back on my feet. "Just help us with this stuff, would you?"

Inuyasha's head disappears, and in the next second he's jumping down. Suddenly seeing bare feet aiming at our heads, Kagome and I shriek and scramble backwards.

_Thump!_

_Whack!_

"O-Oi!"

"You idiot!" I snarl, hitting him over the head with my sleeping bag again.

He raises his arms to protect himself from my onslaught. "Quit it!"

"You could have hit us!" Kagome informs him angrily. "The bottom of the Well isn't very big, you know!"

"Or sent us back home!" I add, giving him one last whack. I huff, tucking my bag back against my chest whist giving Inuyasha the stink eye.

He scowls back, ears twitching. "Feh, whatever!" he scoffs. "Do you want help up or not?"

As Inuyasha throws our bags up and over, and then takes turns carrying us out, I can't help but wonder if he's part rabbit or frog. Or even kangaroo.

Kagome climbs onto the Well, legs dangling over. "Alright, I'll be right back!" she smiles before pushing off.

"Hey!" Inuyasha starts, but his grasping hands miss and she disappears. "What she'd do that for?" he rounds on me angrily. "I thought we were going to start looking for the shards!"

"She's just getting our bikes, relax."

"What's that?" His brow twitches.

"Bikes are a mode of transportation," I explain. "It'll help us move faster, you'll see."

"Feh! It better," he grumbles while tucking his hands in his sleeves.

 _'Such a short fuse.'_ I roll my eyes, sighing and turning my attention to the Well. _'Oh!'_ My eyes widen, and it's my turn to round on Inuyasha. "Wait! Didn't Kagome say that you were injured pretty badly yesterday?" Guilt instantly floods me for forgetting, hitting him, and getting him to carry us and our stuff out of the Well. Oh, I hope he didn't reopen any wounds!

"Heh, I'm fine! It was nothing!" he turns his nose up arrogantly.

I purse my lips, recalling the time that Gramps went all day with a sprained wrist because he was too damn proud to admit that he hurt himself slipping in the shed. And the other time a male classmate of mine tried to walk off a concussion from a gym class gone wrong. "She said that you got slashed in the chest _more than once, and_ stabbed in the back. Just wait a moment." I shrug my bag off and rummage through it for the second first aid kit that Kagome and I brought with us.

"I said it was _fine,_ so don't worry about it!"

Having found the white box, I drop my bag and open it up. "Here, just take off your top so that-"

"I don't need help!"

"Don't be stubborn!" I snap, stepping closer. _'Honestly; men!'_ "This medicine is a lot more advance than whatever herbs you use in this Era. So please just-"

"Hey, guys! Can I get some help here?" Kagome yells up from the bottom of the Well.

To my quickly growing ire, Inuyasha ignores me in favour of jumping down to get the bikes and tent. "Inuyasha!" I protest, to no effect.

In the next second the bikes are up and he goes back down for Kagome and the tent. I don't wait for him to step away from her before I crowd him, forcing his collar open myself.

_'I swear, if this avoidance of fatal injuries is going to become a habit-'_

"Oi!"

Kagome gasps, eyes wide in astoundment. "It's gone! Your injuries!"

 _'What?'_ I blink, dumbfounded, when he slaps my hands away to cover his perfectly fine chest.

"I told you, didn't I? I'm fine! Sheesh, you'd think by now you'd know my body ain't normal..." he glares at us while turning his torso away. "Just cause it's fatal for a _human,_ don't mean it's the same for _me!"_

Right...Half yokai. Frowning, I back off. "Sorry. I..." _'Lucky bastard.'_ What I wouldn't do to have fast healing rate like that!

"Let's just go already." Without further ado, Inuyasha takes off deeper into the woods.

 _'Is he..._ Embarrassed?' Kagome and I share a glance before quickly tying our sleeping bags on the back of our bikes and following him. When I wasn't looking, it seems like Inuyasha had grabbed the tent for us, slinging the thick strap over his chest.

"So...What's the plan?" I ask slowly.

"To get all the Jewel shards, duh!" Inuyasha snorts.

My eyebrow twitches and I bite back the insult on my tongue. "I know _that._ But _how_ are we going find them? We can't just aimlessly wander..."

He falters a step, tensing.

 _'Oh my Kami, that_ is _the plan!'_ With crushing despair, I truly realize that I'm probably going to be old and wrinkled before we even get close to collecting _half._

"Your sister is supposed to be the shard detector, ain't she -ow!" He cuts himself off, coming to a halt and slapping the side of his neck with his brows furrowed in annoyance.

"I got some bug spray if you want-" Kagome starts.

Inuyasha ignores her, squinting down at his palm. "Well, if it ain't Myoga the flea," he muses to himself.

"Flea?"

Kagome and I come to flank Inuyasha's sides, looking to the small thing in his open palm.

 _'Is that bug...Wearing_ clothes?' Just when I think that the Feudal Era can't get any weirder, it goes and proves me wrong!

"What'd'ya want this time, Myoga?" he asks rudely.

"Lord Inuyasha-"

_'Lord?!'_

"I've come to tell you that someone is trying find your Father's tomb," the flea -a literal _flea,_ although admittedly a larger than normal one- says gravely.

Inuyasha blinks dumbly, obviously not expecting _that._ "What do ya mean?"

The flea -Myoga- fidgets nervously. "As guardian of his final resting place, I can bear it no longer."

"So you took off and came here instead," Inuyasha summarizes, not sounding surprised in the least.

"But it is the remains that are important, and they are no longer there."

"Oh, so where are the remains then?" he asks curiously.

"Regrettably, sire, no one knows," Myoga sighs.

 _'So then why are you coming to_ us?!' I share a look with Kagome, and it seems like we're on the same page.

"Um, I'm sorry," she cuts in, "But why does someone want to find his father's remains?"

The flea seems to puff up his chest at Kagome's question. "His Father, Lord Inutaisho, was a Great and Powerful demon who ruled over the Western Lands. Some would even say that he was a Phantom Beast, a demon among demons!" he claims proudly.

 _'Wait a moment...'_ "Are you some kind of lost Prince?" I ask Inuyasha incredulously. "If your father was a ruler, are you the heir?"

Kagome gasps, just connecting the dotes herself.

"No, I'm afraid that Lord Inuyasha's older half brother, Lord Sesshomaru, claims that title."

Inuyasha scowls at the mentioned name, ears twitching. "Ya still haven't answered _who's_ trying to dig up the old man."

Myoga hesitates. "I believe it is...Lord Sesshomaru himself, sire."

_'Plot twist.'_

"That bastard? Why!?"

"If I am correct, he is seeking Tessaiga, a mighty and powerful sword forged from the late Lord's fang. It is _your_ inheritance," Myoga informs.

"Wait," I hold up a hand, pinching the bridge of my nose as a mild headache slowly builds. "Let me get this straight; Inuyasha's older half brother -a, what? Is he half yokai too, or-?"

"Full blooded yokai," Myoga supplies.

"Right. Inuyasha's full blooded yokai brother-"

 _"Half_ brother!" Inuyasha corrects sharply.

"-Is wanting to find their father's remains, so that he can get his hands on this powerful sword, which their father left for _Inuyasha_. But nobody, including you, the supposed Guardian, Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru himself knows where the hell these remains are in the first place. Am I following you so far?"

"Yes, I believe that is it," Myoga nods.

 _"...So then what the hell do you want us to do about it?"_ I demand huffily. _'Inuyasha being an illegitimate heir (if I'm assuming correctly)...Dead father...Older half brother trying to steal Inuyasha's inheritance...All we're missing is the crazy in-laws!'_

"Well, to stop him, I suppose."

 _'You_ suppose?'

"Do you know where Sesshomaru is right now?" Kagome asks Myoga curiously.

"...I'm afraid I don't know the whereabouts of Lord Sesshomaru, either," he admits sheepishly.

"You come to us for help, but have no clue where the remains _or_ Sesshomaru are-!"

Inuyasha scoffs, interrupting the angry rant I was building up to. "This ain't got nothing to do with me."

Myoga's eyes widen. "But Lord Inuyasha-"

"I said it ain't got nothing to do with me!" He repeats louder, angrier. "I never even got the chance to meet the man -can't remember nothing about him- so what do I care for the stupid sword or what the bastard does?"

Myoga falls silent.

"I ain't wasting my time on no wild goose chase -I got Jewel shards to find!" He continues, marching away. He makes it ten steps ahead of us before he looks back, shouting: "Come on, let's go already! We're burning daylight!"

_'This whole "collecting the jewel shards" thing is a wild goose chase.'_

Kagome and I hop back on our bikes. Moments later, it seems like Myoga has abandoned Inuyasha for Kagome's shoulder, based on the whispered "I'm sorry" she says to it.

Not much conversation is made for the rest of the day, and any attempt dies a swift death with Inuyasha's angsty aura looming over everyone. Obviously, Inuyasha's demonic family is a rather touchy subject. Even the ever chipper and optimistic Kagome finds herself feeling down.

When it become clear that this is the way things are going to be for the rest of the day, I sigh and pause to take out my MiniDisc player and headphones.

Kagome gapes rather comically when she sees me pull it out. "You brought that with you?!"

I shoot her a cheeky grin. "Of course. Didn't you bring yours?"

Kagome pouts. "You know I didn't think of that! That's not fair, Shika..."

I ignore her whining as I press play and continue on our journey. It's not my fault that Kagome doesn't often plan ahead for these types of things. I already did my best to make sure that both of us had all of the necessities. _'Maybe this'll teach her to be better.'_

* * *

When the sun begins to set, Inuyasha finally agrees to stop for the night. I make quick work of the tent while Kagome attempts to tackle the fire and Inuyasha disappears to find food.

Even though Inuyasha -the jerk- completely ate up what was supposed to be dinner that Mama packed for us during the lunch break, I am smug in the knowledge that if not for my _amazing_ forethought of bringing the tent with the water proof top, we'd be sleeping wet tonight.

 _'Over prepared my ass.'_ I glance up to the clouds gathering in the sky, which while don't look like they'll reach us within a couple of hours, will surely come later tonight as we sleep.

I love being right.

After Myoga arrived, nothing else exciting happened. No matter how often Inuyasha questioned Kagome, she never felt any shards. Although a small, fat, and arrogant green yokai -no taller than my shoulders- did come by to steal the one shard we _do_ have.

Inuyasha seemed a tiny bit happier after beating the yokai to a pulp.

Speaking of...

"Here," Inuyasha unceremoniously drops two dead rabbits at Kagome's kneeling form by the pile of wood.

She blanches at unspoken command.

"Ah, Inuyasha.." I hesitantly speak up.

Bored, he looks at me. "What?"

"Neither Kagome or I have ever skinned or prepared fresh kills, so you'll have to do it tonight."

"What? How else do you eat then?" He demands, utterly baffled.

Kagome clears her throat, nudging the tiny corpses away from her with a stick. "In our Era, we just go to the superstore -the market, I mean- where they've already skinned the meat and have them packaged so that they don't go bad. All you have to do is cook them over fire," she explains.

He furrows his brows. "Huh. Is that so?" he mutters to himself. Shaking himself out of whatever deep thought he says; "Well, I guess I have to show ya how to then."

Kagome pales further, and even I feel queasy at the mental image of even _watching._ I'm by no means a vegetarian or vegan, but still, watching a once living creature being _skinned_ is too much for me.

"That's okay," Kagome squeaks, glancing at me all wide-eyed. "Really, you can just-"

"Quiet!" Inuyasha interrupts with a raised hand, head tilting to the sky and sniffing.

I put down the last peg for the tent. "What is it?" I ask him warily, glancing around myself.

Myoga jumps from wherever he had disappeared to, settling on my shoulder. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

_'That makes two of us.'_

"Inuyasha? What is it?" Kagome repeats my question.

The sky has darkened much faster than I originally thought it would, the moon already high up in the sky, and when a blast of cold wind comes out nowhere I palm my sheathed dagger. My hair stands on end, dread pooling in my stomach. I _really_ don't like how the clouds are beginning to swirl around.

"Something's coming, I can feel it!" Inuyasha warns, tense and ready to spring into a fight.

I don't need any more encouragement to run behind Inuyasha, our strongest fighter by far, and next to Kagome. _'Please be nothing, please be nothing...'_

Kagome gasps the same time a floating carriage in front of the full moon is revealed from behind a cloud. "A carriage?" she questions. "There's a lady riding in it..."

 _'What?'_ I squint, and I think I catch a flutter of pink.

Inuyasha steps forward, disbelieve all over his face. "M-Mother...?"

_'The hell?'_

"INUYASHA!" the supposed lady in the floating carriage calls out, and from the great distance between us my ears barely pick _that_ up. "IT _IS_ YOU!"

"Mother!" he exclaims, almost desperate as he tries to get closer on land.

Kagome holds him back with a hand on his arm. "W-Wait! Inuyasha, are you _sure_ that's your mom?"

 _'Wait a second...If Inuyasha was trapped against the Sacred Tree for a whooping fifty years...Inuyasha admitted to be freaking_ two hundred years old _, with the fifty being counted...And the fact that he got his yokai blood from his_ father's side... _How the ever loving_ freak _is_ she _his_ mother?!'

"INUYASHA! INUYASHA!"

The floating carriage flies higher and higher into sky, closer to the swirling clouds, when a giant, clawed, and beastly hand grabs it and crushes it. Out steps a terrible, horrifying monster -A yokai the size of a small mountain- with glowing red eyes, fangs too large for it's jaw, and the women in pink clutched in it's three-fingered fist.

"What the fuuuccckk..." I breathe, feeling all blood leave my face.

_'Oh Kami, oh Kami-'_

"He's going to hurt her!" Kagome gasps.

"No he's not!" Inuyasha growls, before leaping recklessly -impossibly- into the air.

But before he can reach the lady, a blast of fire is suddenly sprung into his path and Inuyasha is forced back down on the ground.

"HA! YOU _MISSED!"_ Inuyasha jeers in a crouch.

 _'Barely!'_ The scorch marks on the grass aren't but a couple inches away from him!

Inuyasha growls again, a deeper and angrier thing compared to the first time. "SESSHOMARU!"

I look higher up on the giant, at his shoulders, where a man dressed in white and with hair as long as Inuyasha's stands calmly.

"Indeed" -his dry tone seems to carry more than anyone else's screams, even at his current height- "I've quite missed you as well...Ototo."

 _'Dear Kami, we're going to die because of a fucking_ flea! _Myoga brought this-this_ thing _to us!'_ As soon as - _if-_ we escape this, I'm going to _murder him._ Squash him underfoot like the filthy insect he is!

 _"That's_ your brother?!" Kagome gapes.

Kagome's comment draws Sesshomaru's attention away from Inuyasha, and onto us.

_'Nice going, Imouto!'_

"Hmm, two mortals. How interesting," he comments idly, not sounding particularly interested at all.

"Yeah, what-"

I run forward to slap a hand over my thoughtless, tactless twin's mouth. "Shut up!" I hiss, my heart hammering. _'Do not insult the yokai standing on top of another, much, much larger yokai!'_

Not a single bone of self-preservation in her body, just like I said!

In fact, why the _fuck_ are Kagome and I still here? This is _obviously_ a family matter, so really we should-

Kagome glares straight back, ripping my hand off her face. "No," she tells me angrily, knowing the cowardly -the _smart_ \- thoughts and plans running through my mind.

Every cell in my body is buzzing, _begging_ me to turn tail and run -run away from the _giant fucking monster, who can squash me like a bug underfoot,_ and the other, smaller but no less dangerous yokai who _controls the giant fucking monster-_

But I can't just _leave_ Kagome-

There is _no fucking way_ I'm going to be able to take down that giant thing, and my measly dagger might as well be a _tickle-_

"Others would be ashamed," Sesshomaru continues calmly. "But with you, Ototo, the girls suits you quite well. These...Human creatures-"

From within the three-fingered fist, the lady in pink whimpers in pain.

"-I should think you've had enough of them. Or is it a taste from Father?" he finishes tauntingly.

Inuyasha's growling intensifies, teeth gashing. "That's not all, is it? You couldn't have come all this way just to tell me that!"

"Be not a fool, I have no such time waste." Sesshomaru levels Inuyasha with such a look of pure _distain_ that I instinctively take half a step back myself. "The tomb of our Father -where must I seek it?"

"Our Father's tomb? Why ask _me?"_ Inuyasha demands.

"Seeing yet never seen, protected yet never known to its protector. No other clues are known."

"I got no idea what you're talking about," Inuyasha scoffs. "Besides, even if I did, there's no way I'd tell _you_!" he adds hotly.

Sesshomaru doesn't seem surprised by his words. "I see. Then you leave me no choice, but to let your mother's suffering convince you," he replies simply, uncaringly.

Without further ado, he whips the face of his giant 'friend' with something green, and horrifyingly the lady in pink begins to get crushed right in front of us.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha doesn't bite. "Nice try, jerk! But my Mother has been dead for years, and we both know it! Like I'd really fall for some stupid trick like that!" he smirks arrogantly.

 _'Oh, thank Kami.'_ Inuyasha has realized the impossibly, too. Still though-

"A trick, is it?" Sesshomaru arches a mocking brow. "Are you certain?"

The little green imp thing -can't make out any details so far away- that had shot the blast of fire earlier joins in: _"You're_ who's stupid! Recalling spirits from the netherworld is a simple task, if you are Lord Sesshomaru. He was even so kind as to give her flesh, yet her own son would deny it." He shakes his head sadly, sighing as if disappointed. "How sad to be mother to one such as you!"

"Inuyasha-!" The lady in pink whimpers again, struggling to lift her hand towards him as if she has hope to reach him.

Inuyasha's smirk falters.

"I have come back, Inuyasha! Back from the world of the dead! Aaaah..." she goes limp.

His smirk has now been completely wiped away, and instead replaced with an expression so openly desperate -so wounded and filled with fear- that it makes my heart ache terribly. "Stop hurting her!" Inuyasha screams, before leaping into the air again.

This time, Inuyasha manages to reach her and cuts the beastly hand from the body, causing the giant to scream and back away from the pain and for the lady in pink to fall to the ground.

"Oh no! Are you okay?" Kagome rushes towards the fallen figure, and I have no choice but to follow. Together, we pry the lady out of the hand and kick off the chains that wrapped around her.

"Kagome! Shika! You three get out of here!" Inuyasha orders loudly, risking a quick glance behind him to us.

"I think not." Sesshomaru beats the giant again with the green whip, harder this time, and the resulting sound from the giant's mouth is so shrill that it sends my ears ringing.

I only have enough time to think _'shit'_ before three things happens at once: The giant reaches for us with its remaining hand, Inuyasha screams and jumps in front of the hand, and a ball of pure light surrounds us.

* * *

So, I might _not_ kill Myoga when this is all said and done, after all. (But he's on thin fucking ice.)

When I came to, its obvious that we're no longer at the campsite. The sky is dark, low fog rolling off the swap, and I catch sight of a couple skulls and skeletons hidden in the tall, wet grass. And oh Kami, _the smell-_

If my surroundings aren't enough of a heart attack inducer, the fact I can't so much as twitch or whimper, and Inuyasha -Kagome and I's only shot of surviving this hellish situation, if I'm being perfectly honest- is currently being _sucked into his supposed 'mother' across the field-_

Well. You get my point.

But then when I feel a sudden, sharp pain on my cheek I somehow regain the ability to move again. As Myoga flutters down from my hand I scramble off of Kagome -where I had apparently landed, and with a pinch of hysteria, I realize that through all of this I'm _still_ wearing my hideous orange backpack- and slap her like I had slapped myself just seconds ago.

"Ooww!" She grimaces, immediately sitting up -long since backpack free- and rubbing her cheek.

"You'll live. Now -plan?"

"We gotta save Inuyasha! That's not his real mom!"

_'Duh.'_

With some pointed looks between us, and Myoga on Kagome's shoulder, we sneak closer to Inuyasha and his 'mother' as quickly and as closely as we dare. We end up behind a boulder, within fifteen feet of the two.

"What is that thing?" I wonder, bile rising in my throat.

Inuyasha's entire right side is almost completely absorbed.

"It is the Unmother," Myoga explains soberly. "Born from the grief of losing children to famine and war, she seeks to fill the void within herself by taking the spirits of others. And in this case, Inuyasha."

Horrifying. _'Talk about toxic love!'_

"There! Look there!" Myoga whispers.

Kagome and I turn to the left, where the green imp -toad?- from earlier rides on a boat.

My heart stops for a second and I freeze, thinking that he'd surely see us-

But he doesn't. Instead, he jumps out of the wooden row boat when close enough to land with an alarmed shout, whacking the Unmother with his creepy two headed staff.

"No soul-sucking till I tell you!" the toad scolds the Unmother angrily, his back to us.

"Sorry..."

In a slightly calmer tone, the toad continues; "You can have your way with him later, _after_ he tells us how to find the tomb of Lord Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's father."

"I believe that the toad's name is Jaken. Watch out for his staff," Myoga warns.

 _That_ peeks my interest. "Is that how he makes fire?" I ask.

"Yes."

 _'Excellent.'_ "I'll take the toad, can you pull Inuyasha out?" I whisper to Kagome.

"Hm." Kagome nods her head affirmative, and together we slowly start creeping around the boulder, out of the Unmother's line of sight. We can no longer see them, but we can hear perfectly:

"I don't know..." Inuyasha mutters drowsily. "...Black pearl, on the right..."

"What black pearl?" Jaken demands. "Where? We need more than that! Go deeper!"

"But Lord Jaken, if I delve deeper his spirit will be broken," the Unmother protests.

_'WHAT?!'_

"I don't care! Do it!"

"..."

"What's taking so long? Get a move on before Lord Sesshomaru comes back and-"

Finally behind the disgusting little creature, I snatch his staff from his weak grip and step on him. _Hard._

"Huh-? O-Oh-!" he makes a pained, gurgling sound under my foot.

"Go die!" I snarl, kicking him far away and into the equally disgusting water.

He makes a satisfying splash.

At the same time, Kagome lunges for Inuyasha and the Unmother. She takes a fistful of white locks and _pulls._ She almost manages to pull him completely free before the Unmother rips away.

"No!"

Both Kagome and I chase after her, and while Kagome makes another swipe for Inuyasha I raise my new staff and continuously, without mercy, whack the Unmother with it.

"Let! Him! Go!" I grunt with each and every word and hit. "You! Bitch!"

"Stop!"

"Aaah!" Kagome suddenly trips and falls.

I don't hesitate, and instead change my footing to swing with my entire torso -just like our gym teacher taught us how to bat- and aim for the head.

_Thunk!_

Unmother goes down like a dropped sack of potatoes, and I drop the staff like a hot one in order to yank Inuyasha out of _it._

 _"Inuyasha!"_ Kagome gasps, dropping to her knees in order to support him in her arms.

"Uuuggh," Inuyasha groans, eyes fluttering open. He seems to get his bearings relatively quickly as his chest heaves and he blinks rapidly, shaking his head and pushing off of Kagome to sit up on his own. "How dare she!" he cries to himself. He then spots the Unmother, only a few feet away. "You pretended to be -I fell for it! I can't believe I thought she was my-"

"But it was Jaken and your brother Sesshomaru who-"

"What did you-!" he winces in pain -trembles, actually- while struggling to move.

"Calm down," I tell him fruitlessly. _'He's going to hurt himself further if he keeps this up!'_

"Inuyasha," a famılar voice calls out, and I tense.

Slowly, cautiously, I bend down to pick the staff back up, never taking my eyes off the approaching figure.

"I know where it is now," he taunts.

This close, I can make out a few things I couldn't before. Like the red flowers on his sleeves, the sword at his hip, the long lump of fluff over his shoulder, and piece of shiny metal armour across his chest. Just as I'm taking note of the curious crescent moon peeking out from under silver locks, and the red lines on his cheeks and eyelids _(-'Is he wearing_ makeup?'-) he suddenly appears in front of us, from one blink of an eye to another.

My heart jumps into my throat, and I jerk back so hard that I accidentally fall and take Kagome down with me.

"Ah!"

"You bas-tard!" Inuyasha chokes, clawing at the single hand wrapped around his throat and holding him up off his feet.

"Of all the places for him to hide it..."

Staring up at him, as his lips keep moving, as he keeps _talking_ with his hand inches away from Inuyasha's red face, holding Inuyasha up so effortlessly, everything -all of the overwhelming terror, crushing hopelessness, and consuming _anger-_ washes over me at once.

This is the man who _truly_ started all of this. Not Myoga, and not the Unmother. He is the one who brought the giant to us, who used Inuyasha's dead mother against him, who almost killed Inuyasha more than once -is doing it _right now-_ and who _tried to_ _kill Kagome and I_ and-and-

And something in me _snaps_.

_"LET HIM GO!"_

I lunge forward, swinging the staff as fire ejects out of one of the heads. He drops Inuyasha at once, jumping impossibly back. He watches my panting form, annoyance clear as he puts out the tiny fire caught on his right sleeve.

"Now, when did you get that, human?" he wonders icily, eyeing how my hands tremble.

Or, really, how my whole _body_ trembles. But not from fear. No, not this time. From _fury._ I stand before him, Inuyasha and Kagome on the ground behind me, with a death grip on the staff and a raging fire within me.

 _'Do it,'_ I wordlessly snarl, spitting on the ground. _'Come at me!'_

His eyes flash red at the unspoken challenge.

I only have a single second to bring the staff down before he's right in front me again -just like with Inuyasha- and stopping the staff from hitting him with one hand.

"Worthless human-" he snarls -a _real_ snarl, with pulled back lips revealing sharp fangs- and inhales. He inhales -nostrils flaring, taking a deep sniff- and then several things happens at once:

Number one; he freezes.

Number two; his eyes widen, white bleeding into red.

Number three; his grip on the staff slacks.

Number four; the staff hits him on the shoulder.

And number five; the pain snaps him out of whatever brief trance he's in, and he once again jumps back further than any _human_ would be able to do.

"Wha...?" someone murmurs quietly, behind me.

I blink, my inner fire dying, feeling frazzled and off kilter from the sheer spontaneity of Sesshomaru's actions. I want to say something -anything, question him- but the words are trapped in my throat as I watch Sesshomaru struggle with himself.

His scleras keep flashing between red and white, as if he can't choose between being possessed or not, and the deep, rumbling growl that escapes him, echoing around us causes my hair to stand on end and goosebumps to travel up my arms, all while he bends at the waist with his arms hugging his middle.

"Oi, Sesshomaru..." Inuyasha hesitantly steps out from behind me to stand at my side, the same time I feel Kagome's hand rest on my shoulder.

That seems to have snapped something inside Sesshomaru, and he _loses it._

With a single backhanded strike Sesshomaru sends Inuyasha _flying_ -breaking the sound barrier, even!- and he rips me away from Kagome, crushing me against his fluffy side, as he snaps and snarls at her like a rabid dog. _**"MiNe!"**_ he growls viciously.

Kagome shrieks and back-pedals so hard that she slips and falls on her bum, much like I did earlier.

I'm crushed even tighter against him, one arm snaked around my lower back, just under my backpack, and his other hand on the back of my head, pressing my face into his mass of fluff. All of this while his cold nose buries itself in the crook of my neck, inhaling long and deeply.

My heart hammers wildly, my lungs burning as I try fruitlessly to push him away because I can't _breathe-_

Sesshomaru growls again, this time nipping my jaw in warning.

"Let her go, bastard!"

Sesshomaru evades Inuyasha's flying attack, causing Inuyasha to come to a skittering, tumbling halt on the dirt past us.

He's quick to bounce back onto his feet, shifting into a fighting stance though. He narrows his eyes at Sesshomaru, cracking his knuckles. "I don't know what your problem is, but it ends here. 'Cause I'm going to kill you!"

Inuyasha rushes forward again, and like last time Sesshomaru dodges. Only this time he carries me a ways away, letting me go before swiftly rejoining the fight.

From there, the battle between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru is inhumanly fast -too fast for my mortal eyes to keep track of. They're simply blurs -speeding this way and that- unless Sesshomaru knocks Inuyasha down, and Inuyasha takes a solid second to counter attack.

That is, until Inuyasha gets a lucky hit to the face in and pushes Sesshomaru back several feet.

"Are...Are you okay, Shika?"

I jolt in surprise, hand on my dagger, as I tear my eyes away from the fight to see a worried Kagome next to me. I never realized that she made it back to me.

"Did he hurt you?" Kagome asks me, fretting hands hovering, and with a fire in her hazel eyes.

"I-"

"What's wrong, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha jeers loudly. It seems like they're at a stand still. "Getting tired already? I could do this all day!"

With a start I realize that Sesshomaru's eyes are no longer red, although the glare he gives Inuyasha is no less murderous. "Jaken!" he barks loudly.

Jaken comes running, staff in hand. "Y-Yes, milord?" he squeaks.

_'When did he get that back? When did I drop it?'_

Sesshomaru snatches the staff from him, drops something black, tiny and strange onto the ground at his feet, and then crushes it with the bottom of the laughing staff.

"The portal!" Myoga gasps on Kagome's shoulder, a second before a black and white hole opens up behind Sesshomaru. "Quickly! Before it closes!"

"Hey! I'm not finished with you yet!" Inuyasha shouts as Sesshomaru steps through the portal with Jaken on his heels.

"Come on!" Kagome tugs on my hand urgently, visibly alarmed at the notion of being left behind.

With Inuyasha already a leg in and Kagome chasing after him, I have no choice but to follow.

_'I hate my life.'_

* * *

The brief moment of free falling from the sky is only another thing to add to my 'terrifying experiences' list.

(I'm going to need a lot more paper real soon.)

And the fact that dead birds -skeleton birds- come swooping down to give us a lift? Yeah, I'ma just going to bury revelation to ponder and freak out after _later._

Currently, I have my arms tightly wrapped around Kagome's waist from behind, Myoga on her shoulder, and Inuyasha on another bird flying ahead of us.

"Myoga! Do you know what Sesshomaru's deal was earlier?!" I have to scream in order to be heard over the biting wind.

"Yeah!" Kagome agrees. "What _was_ that?! He nearly bit my head off!"

"I, uh, see here...Oh, look! Isn't Lord Inutaisho magnificent?!"

The giant skeleton in armour -which we could spot from the very beginning- and is even _bigger_ than the giant Sesshomaru had earlier? What an awful, totally obvious subject change.

"That's Inuyasha's dad?!" Kagome questions, incredulous.

I'll allow the subject change _for now._ But only because we're now flying into it's great jaws, and are bound to land any second now. Mark my words, Myoga _will_ be answering all of my questions once this is over.

But if this is the _skeleton_ of Inuyasha's demonic father... _'Just how in the world did he and Inuyasha's human mom make_ that _work?'_ What a truly horrifying image.

* * *

"Sesshomaru!"

Standing in front of a golden rounded table with a shabby sword sticking out of it, the bastard -because Inuyasha is _totally right_ about his brother being an utter bastard, and more- turns to took at the sound of Inuyasha's voice next to us.

(More than ever, as I cling to a thick root on top of a rib, I am thankful that our Aunt insists upon hiking with Kagome, Sota, and I every summer.)

Wait a second... _'Did he just completely avoid looking at me?'_

"I _said_ that I wasn't finished with you yet!"

Inuyasha flies at him to take a swipe, but of course he jumps out of the way, landing high up, opposite of the ribs of Kagome and I. They're a bunch of kangaroos, I'm telling you!

"You should be more respectful," he tells Inuyasha coldly. "This is our Father's tomb, after all."

_'Says the gravedigger!'_

"Look who's talking! You're the one who's here robbing his grave! Why not respect him by _leaving?"_ Inuyasha retorts bitingly.

"Lord Inuyasha-"

"Kick his ass, Inuyasha! Make him _beg_ _!"_ I cheer loudly, and Kagome gives me a startled look.

I sneer when Sesshomaru's eyes snapped towards me -bleeding red for a fleeting moment- before he growls and attacks Inuyasha with new energy.

The fight becomes a bunch of blurs again, and I am displeased that despite my encouragement Inuyasha seems to be having his butt handed to him, in the fleeting moments in between counter and follow-up attacks that I can see.

"We gotta do something!" Kagome says desperately, tugging on my arm.

I search around the bone infested place. There's no way Kagome and I can match up to Sesshomaru in terms of strength or speed, and trying to get in between them without protection or a proper weapon is simply _suicide-_

_'There!'_

I nudge her, gesturing to the sword and the annoying little toad cheering on Sesshomaru from the sidelines. "You try to get the sword, and I'll steal back the fire throwing staff, yeah?"

"But you saw him fail to pull it out! What makes you think _I_ can?" Kagome protests.

Indeed, before we got as far down as we are, we watched how Sesshomaru hurt himself trying to pull it out of the low golden table. We didn't see _all_ of it, mind you, but we saw enough.

"Because if their dad wanted Inuyasha to have it and not Sesshomaru, then either it's spelled against Sesshomaru, or everyone but Inuyasha. We need to know which. Maybe we can blackmail Sesshomaru into leaving or giving up for the moment if we threaten to break it," I explain.

Kagome gets this wicked gleam in her eyes, and I know she's on board.

Together, we jump down and while she books it to the sword, I go straight for Jaken. His eyes almost bug out of his tiny head when he sees me charging, and I _grin._

"S-Stay back, filthy human-!"

I block his up coming hit with my forearm -which, freaking _ow-_ and aim a kick to his face, since he's so damn short.

"Gah!"

"I'll be taking _that,_ thank you," I announce rather chipperly, stepping on Jaken's wrist before snatching up the staff.

A loud gasp draws my attention to Kagome, who is wide-eyed and holding the newly freed sword in her hands. Sesshomaru -with his own eyes fighting between red and white, though the white seems to be winning for the moment- and Inuyasha also freeze, with Sesshomaru pinning Inuyasha to the ground with a hand on his throat and another one ready to strike.

"It-It actually worked..." Kagome breathes, a slow giddy grin overtaking her face. "I did it! I really did it! Shika, look, I pulled it out!"

"I-Impossible!" Jaken sputters, still under me. "If Lord _Sesshomaru_ couldn't pull it out, h-how-"

"Don't look at her, look at me!" Inuyasha growls, taking advantage of Sesshomaru's distracted state to attack.

But Sesshomaru completely leaves Inuyasha in favour of suddenly standing in front of Kagome, glaring down at her as if he wishes to smite her where she stands. "What are you?" He demands icily.

"Wh-Wha-" Kagome clutches the sword closer to her chest.

"Get away from my sister, you creep!"

You know what? Sesshomaru's talent of avoiding attacks by leaping away is getting real old, real fast. I spin on my heel to put my back to Kagome properly, gripping the staff in my hands and glaring at the bastard.

 _'Try to hurt her, I_ dare _you!'_ Now, how did I make the fire work, again-?

Kagome squares up, trying to look fierce. "A-Ah, if you don't leave right now, I'll break it! I will!" she threatens.

Sesshomaru's answering, disbelieving scoff takes all the wind out of her sails and thrashes my plan.

"OI! You should _pay attention!"_

Sesshomaru side-steps Inuyasha's claws and around-house kicks him across the room. I wince at the terrible, crunchy noise of him crashing.

"Give it to Lord Inuyasha! Quickly! He _must_ have the Tessaiga!" Myoga commands hurriedly.

As Inuyasha struggles to get back up, Sesshomaru turns back to us. Or, more accurately, to _Kagome -_ he's looking over my shoulder, straight at her, and doesn't so much as glance at me. "Give me Tessaiga, or die by my claws," he growls, taking a single, threatening step forward.

"No way!" Kagome refuses venomously, inching away.

"And if you take one more step closer, I'll burn you to a crisp!" I add.

At least, I _hope..._ My earlier fear and insecurities start creeping in, sinking their greedy claws into me the longer this showdown continues.

Sesshomaru is too fast -too fast for me to track, and too fast for me block against- and not to mention his sheer _strength_ and that whipping thing...

 _'Kami, please don't attack me.'_ My heart hammers much too loudly, and I'm sure that he and Inuyasha can hear it. My chest squeeze tightly, my throat closing up, choking me-

_'Kami, what possessed me to challenge this monster, again?'_

Oddly enough, Sesshomaru buys my bluff and doesn't come closer, simply levelling a glare at me of utter hatred that sends my stomach into knots.

"Leave them alone, Sesshomaru! They're not involved in this!" Inuyasha practically coughs up a lung, wheezing as he pushes off his knee to get back up.

"On the contrary, she was able to draw Tessaiga for some unknown reason, while I was unable too. It is obvious that she must die."

_'Oh Kami, oh Kami-'_

"You're right" -Inuyasha agrees, and I nearly kill him for that comment alone- "It is weird that she was able to pull it out while you couldn't, but she's still just a human girl! Kagome, Shika, give him the sword! There's no choice!"

"No way!" Kagome stubbornly shakes her head. "Why does he automatically get to keep it? I pulled it out, not him! Obviously he's not supposed to have it!"

 _"Give it to Lord Inuyasha-"_ Myoga hisses to Kagome.

"And how can we be sure that he won't kill us after he gets it, anyways?" I challenge, a tad bit more shrilly than I meant to. "The way I see it, this stupid sword is one of the very few things holding him back!"

I mean, I freely admit that I'm a coward when things truly get down to it, but if the choice is dying or dying, I would rather die by being a pain the ass for my killer!

Sesshomaru smoothes out his expression, tilting his head while giving me a mild, curious look. I shiver; his golden eyes seemingly to look into my very soul. "I give you my word that if you give me Tessaiga now, I will allow you two to live."

I bark mirthlessly, the hysteria bubbling up inside of me. "Your _word?_ And how can we trust your _word?_ You haven't shown us that you're the trustworthy type so far!"

He narrows his eyes at me, the tinniest of red creeping into his eyes. "You dare question my honour?"

"Yes!" I shout, unwisely. "Yes, I do -for Kami's sake, _you're trying to rob your father's grave!"_

Like, what kind sick of question is _that?_ For a split second, he looks like he's going to hit me, but instead he suddenly engages Inuyasha into another fight.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Sesshomaru was _running_ _from me_.

"Give the Tessaiga to Lord Inuyasha! It's the only way!" At this point, Myoga is sounding eerily like a broken record.

"But _how?"_ Kagome cries out in frustration. "I can't just-"

Just then, Sesshomaru's latest hit sends Inuyasha barreling towards us. Stupidly not watching the fight, instead looking at Kagome and Myoga argue, I am too slow to dodge when Kagome yelps, seconds before I get run over by the truck of Inuyasha.

Someone gasps. "Shika!"

I groan, pain exploding from the back of my head and travelling down my arched back. Especially in the middle, where several pointy and hurtful things dig into me. _'Fuuuccck...'_ I can't get up, and when my eyes flutter open the whole room spins. I quickly shut them again when it only makes the pain in my head _worse._ The heavy thing scrambles off of me, and I hiss when a sharp elbow grinds itself into my gut.

Someone lifts my upper body up, a large hand cupping the base of my throbbing head.

"Damn, are you okay?! I-"

"Oh my gosh, she's _bleeding!"_

"Sire, please take the sword-"

_"Will you shut up about that already?!"_

_'Stop. Please, you're too freaking loud!'_

A deep, low growl echos throughout, transforming into an earth-shattering roar, and arms snatch me up and causes me to fly elsewhere. The suddenness of the motion causes bile to rise in my throat, before I promptly turn my head to the side and vomit everywhere.

 _'Dear Kami...End me now.'_ I blink blearily, ringing in my ears, my throat burning, and black dots in my vision as I try to make out the brown stuff on the floor, and the blurry figures across from me.

"Shika, no!"

"Let her go, bastard! She ain't got nothing to do with this!"

The angry growl seems much closer this time -close enough for me to feel it. And I remember nothing else as I black out.

* * *

SQUEAL * It finally happened! They meet -but what's up with Sesshomaru's behaviour, mmm? Does anyone know?

**If you'd like to review, but don't know what to say, please answer these questions:**

**1.** What did you think of all of Shika's different reactions during this chapter?

 **2.** What do you think of Sesshomaru's loss of control?

 **3.** Is there anything you hope to see in the next chapter, or the chapters to come?

 **4.** What was your favourite part?

 **5.** What was your least favourite part?

 **6.** Do you see any mistakes? (If so, please point them out so that I can fix them immediately.)

 **7.** Do you have any questions?


	5. Kidnapped, Take 3!

**{Inuyasha.}**

"You tell me where he took my sister, or so help me I _will_ spray you!"

Although I won't admit it to anyone else, it's deeply unnerving to see Kikyo -who always seemed so outwardly detached, so stone faced with a gaze made out of ice- expression twisted so darkly and near murderous as her reincarnation squeezes Myoga between her thumb and index finger, other hand posed with a weird "spray can" from the future. Supposedly, it's "to get rid of annoying bugs."

"I don't know! Why Lord Sesshomaru decided to take your sister is a complete mystery to I as well!" he nearly squeals, tiny face reddening when the wench squeezes him tighter.

"Liar!" she hisses. "You changed the subject when Shika asked you what was going on earlier! Tell me!"

Myoga averts his eyes, and I feel my blood start to boil. While I may not care for the other girl _(-the girl who is eerily like Kikyo in the ways that her sister isn't. Kagome may be her mirror image in appearance, but Shika is almost as untouchable as Kikyo was. With her piecing gaze that seem to understand more than she lets on, the way she can get my hackles to raise without saying a word because I_ know _she's silently judging me-)_ While I honestly couldn't care less if she lived or died, I wouldn't wish Sesshomaru on even the scum of this world.

Just thinking of the bastard makes my claws itch and my fangs ache with the deep, burning desire to sink them both into his flesh. He always thinks he's so much _better_ than me just because of his bloodline, and it pisses me the fuck off! And-And then what he tried to pull with my _mother-_

I growl. _'I will make him pay,'_ I vow to myself. I grip Tessaiga -the scrap of metal, a poor excuse of a sword that couldn't even cut paper _wet-_ which hangs by my hip. No one gets to use Mother like that. _No one._

And when I'm done with _him,_ I'll find the Unmother to kill her too.

"If you have _any_ idea where the bastard is, you better cough it up," I growl at Myoga, who is practically drowning my nose with the smell of his anxiety.

"I do not know!" He chokes, like he can't breathe as his face starts to turn purple.

"But you know _something,_ don't you?"

The wench loosens her death pitch, and Myoga takes a deep gulp of air, coughing, before continuing; "I admit that I have an... _Idea_ about Lord Sesshomaru's strange behaviour, however I find it highly unlikely that..."

"Just tell us!"

"From what I could see, Lord Sesshomaru only acted strange after smelling the young lady's scent, correct? And with the growling and almost protective gestures when you, Lord Inuyasha, both got too close to her, and wounded her so...Well, it's only reasonable that one might conclude that she is Lord Sesshomaru's destined mate."

_'The fuck?'_

_"WWWhhhhaaattt?!"_

I flinch away from the wench's high-pitched shriek, hissing when my sensitive ears start ringing. "Shut up!" I snap at her, rubbing my abused ears. "And you're fucking crazy," I snarl at Myoga. "The bastard would rather kill everyone on the damn world and then himself than mate a _human."_

Although I'm loath to admit it even in my own mind, Myoga's words do make _some_ sense despite the pure absurdity of it. The red eyes, the growling, the way he lost his goddamn mind when he caught scent of her blood -hell, even the way he was doing his damnedest to ignore her entire existence back at the tomb. The only thing wrong with it is that Sesshomaru would _never_ in a billion _years_ -even to save his own hide- choose a _half-breed_ to mate with. Forget _human!_

"What you _mean_ he's her mate?!" the wench demands hotly, shaking Myoga. "He's not -she's not-"

"Feh, I doubt the bastard would touch her with a ten foot stick," I tell her with a dismissive scoff. It's clear where her brain went to with her wide eyes and panicked expression -not to mention the fear rolling off her.

I can practically taste it.

 _'And women call_ men _the perverts.'_ Heh, if the women at the villages only knew _what_ I've smelled throughout the years...

"It didn't look that way when he _kidnapped her!_ And even before that, he didn't seem to have a problem touching her when he was all red-eyed! And what was up with _that?_ Why did his eyes change?"

 _Again_ with the _screeching! 'Kikyo never -no, no, shut_ up, _brain! We are_ not _thinking about that-that that_ manko!' Ears twitching, I scowl at the wench, stuffing my hand in my wide sleeves. "It was his demon-self coming out."

And wasn't that a sight? Bastard had always been a portrait perfect for 'level headed' and 'in control.' I had thought that making him lose it like that was impossible -and, oh, how I've tried in the past. Heh. Bastard probably thought himself above it, too.

"His demon-self?" she repeats, eyes wide as she turns to Myoga with an accessory tone. "But you said he was a _full_ yokai!"

"He is, I assure you. What Lord Inuyasha is trying to say is that his red eyes are a sign of his _instincts_ or baser-self taking control. If it were Inuyasha who had red eyes, I would say that it was his demon blood taking control, but, well..."

"Either way, she can't be his mate. It's impossible," I growl.

It just doesn't make any fucking _sense._

"Sire, don't tell me you don't know how mating works!" Myoga gapes at me.

Instantly my cheeks warm at the flea's words, and if he wasn't being pitched by the wench I would have flatten him! "I know how mating works! I already got the baby talk!" I protest loudly.

Well, I overheard a few conversations by travelers...Connected the dots myself with those, really. That and some other things that I will never un-imagine. Urge.

"No, I'm sure you know how children are created." He shakes his head. "But, sire, surely you know that Lord Sesshomaru doesn't consciously choose his mate, correct?"

"..."

"Inuyasha?" the wench questions me.

My scowl deepens as my ears flatten themselves to my skull. I find myself unable to look either them in the eye, and that pisses me off even _more._ "It's not like anyone would take the time to sit me down, is it?!"

Not that I would even _want_ some stranger giving me 'The Talk'! I'm perfectly _fine_ on my own, and it's not like it's ever going to matter for _me-_

"And why the fuck are we even talking about this?" I demand, face still warm. "We're wasting time! Let's just go find the bastard already!"

"How? How are we going to be able to find them? They could be anywhere!"

My eyes widen a salty scent hits my nose a split second before she bursts into tears.

"Oh, I should ha-have listened! S-She never wanted to come, but I-I-! What am I su-pposed to tell _Mama-?"_

I inch away from the hysterical girl, feeling deeply uncomfortable as she continues to ball her eyes out in front of me, the fact that she's trying to cover her face with her hands accomplishing absolutely _nothing._ "O-Oi, stop that! Did you forget that I'm half _Inuyokai?_ I can track the bastard, no problem. So stop your crying!" I try to tell her, but it comes out a lot sharper than I meant it too.

"R-Really?" She sniffles, peering at me through her fingers. "Y-You can track them?"

"Feh. Of course I can! Who do you think you're talking-"

"Oh, thank you, Inuyasha!"

"Gah!" I immediately push her off me when she attempts a hug, turning my face away so she can't see how much she's affecting me. "Yeah, yeah! I ain't doing it for _you,_ just so you know. I gotta pay the bastard back for what he pulled with my Mother, don't I?"

She simply smiles at me, like she doesn't believe me as she wipes away the stay tears. "Still, thank you, Inuyasha. Shika, she, well, I don't think I would be able to live without her."

The sincerity behind her words does something strange to me. "Whatever," I mutter, trying to shrug off this weird-ass exchange.

Not a lot of people thank me. It feels... _Nice._

"And _you -you_ are going to tell the both of us whatever this 'mate' nonsense is," the wench scowls at Myoga, who had jumped on my shoulder at some point while she was crying.

"Yeah," I agree easily, eyes narrowed on the nervous flea. _'If he even_ thinks _about running away...'_

Myoga gulps.

* * *

**{Shika.}**

Such as my life nowadays, I wake up in pain. A splitting headache to be more precise, and with bandages wrapped tight around my forehead and the back of my skull.

When I open my eyes, I realize that I'm lying in a dark cave, the only light being the crackling fire behind a wall of silver hair a few inches away from me. "Inu...Yasha?" I croak, throat parched and lips cracked.

 _'Kami, what_ happened _to me?'_ This might even be worse than my time against the _centipede-_

"I am not the halfbreed," the wall of silver hair nearly growls, turning their head to reveal...

My eyes widen _-'Oh, wonderful, it's the psychotic brother!'-_ And I jerk my body into a sitting position, and oh, freaking _ouch,_ my body doesn't like that. Searing pain shoots up my back and makes my head spin, nausea rolling in my stomach.

A clawed hand darts out to my upper chest, gently forcing my body back down. I notice, then, that the ground beneath me is much too soft to be rocks or dirt, and that Sesshomaru is lacking his mass of fluff. Indeed, when I glance down I see the fluff is both a cushioning and a blanket for myself.

"Do not move, you are still healing," Sesshomaru orders sternly. In the dim light, his golden, demonic eyes seem to glow. And his pale, aristocratic features, and pointy ears only highlight his unworldliness. If not for the markings on his smooth skin, and if I didn't know any better, I would think he was a fae from a storybook.

Despite everything -or perhaps _because_ of everything, I feel oddly touched by his gestures. Which is _ridiculous_ and I need to get my head screwed on right, because beautiful or not, lump of fluff or not, this is still the same yokai who recently tried to kill Kagome, Inuyasha, and I.

"Where... _Are_ Kagome and Inuyasha?" I dare ask, licking my dry lips.

Last thing I remember, we were in the tomb...Kagome pulled out Tessaiga, and Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were fighting. That, and a bucket load of agony that I _never_ want to experience again.

(Sesshomaru still doesn't have Tessaiga, from what I can see. Does that mean that Inuyasha won?)

Instead of answering me, Sesshomaru reaches for the plastic water bottle on my right, next to a pile of bloody bandages and a plain but clean folded kimono -and I hate how absentminded I am right now, I don't usually miss so many things- unscrews it, and hands it to me.

"Drink."

I reflexively take the bottle, but don't immediately sip it despite my dry throat. Instead I warily eye the yokai, and the opened but seemingly untouched water bottle.

Sesshomaru, as stone faced and unreadable as his expression is already, seems to harden further and narrow his golden, cat-like eyes at me. "It is not poisoned," he informs me coldly. "Drink."

 _'Right, and I'm supposed to take your word for it?'_ I'm no expert on poisons, but it is exactly because of my lacking knowledge that I can't trust the water given to me. How am I supposed to know if there's a colourless, odourless herb or plant that will kill me slowly and painfully if digested?

"If I desired you dead, you would be so," he continues when I don't move.

True -horribly, panic-inducing true- but what if it's some sort of drug-rape instead? Something that will zap whatever strength I have left, and make me loony or paralyzed?

"You first." I 'offer' it back.

His upper lip curls in a slight snarl, allowing the tip of a sharp fang to poke out. My gut tightens at the glimpse. But he snatches it back and swallows some, never taking his unnerving stare off me and makes me take the bottle back.

 _'Fine then,'_ I mentally concede. I have other excuse now, other than the paranoid voice in my head whispering what if the poison only affects humans?

I take a couple of gulps, feeling the instant relief of the lukewarm water sliding down my throat.

Sesshomaru watches as I do it.

My skin crawls. _'What a creep.'_ A beautiful, hot creep, but a creep nonetheless.

After I'm done with the water, he reaches behind himself for a brown package _-'is that a wrapped bento box? Where the hell did he get a wrapped bento box?'-_ And unceremoniously drops it in my lap.

'Eat' is the unspoken command.

I don't move to touch it. "Where is Kagome and Inuyasha?" I ask again, proud of myself when my voice remains steady. "Where am I? _Why_ am I here?"

"Your sister and the halfbreed are of no importance. Your body has suffered great blood loss, and now requires the proper food."

Bristling, I manage to hold back on snapping at the dangerous yokai and temper down my frustration. "I will eat when you answer my questions."

For a tense second I think I hear a deep, rumbling growl from him, but it leaves as quick as it appears, and I'm left wondering if I simply imagined the flash of red in his eyes.

_'Stay calm, stay firm...And for the love of all things holy, do not piss yourself!'_

"They are alive yet," he allows, but says nothing more.

And when he keeps his silence, stretching the tense and stifling atmosphere between us, it's obvious that he's not going to be peer pressured. (Idly, part of me wonders if it can even _be_ 'peer' pressure. Like, with Inuyasha being two hundred, how old is _Sesshomaru?_ But I digress.)

Should I ask? Do I dare ask for more - _'Yes. I deserve to know. Stay calm, stay firm...'_ "You haven't answered my question. _Where_ are they?"

"If they have not found a way out of my Father's tomb, then there they remain." He glances his cold, striking gaze down at my lap pointedly.

 _'...So he doesn't know either then. Fantastic.'_ "Where am _I?"_

Seems like I've reached the limits of his patience, because he takes it upon himself to open the bento box -full of rice, green vegetables, and cooked fish- and uses the wooden chopsticks in it to stuff my face _himself._

I gag of course, swatting him away. "The _hell?"_ I choke, leaning away and coughing. Kami, it was as if he was _trying_ to trigger my gag reflex!

His Look of subtle disdain could freeze over even Hell. "I do not enjoy repeating myself, girl. You will do well to heed my words the first time."

Oh, yeah, he's _definitely_ an entitled asshole. "Okay, fine, I'll eat!" My anger rising to new heights, I snatch the chopsticks from him and shuffle away to eat in peace.

I know I've mentioned this before, more than once, but does he honestly have to _stare_ so intently and so much? But damn it if I'm going to be the one to break first! This may be a hundred times more awkward than when -well, anything in my life before, truthfully- _but. I. Will. Not. Break._

I refuse to give him the _satisfaction_ of me breaking, because surely he's doing this on purpose!

_'Just pretend that he's Sota. Yeah. Little, annoying Sota who is trying to be a pest so that I'll get angry...Yeah, I can't do it.'_

Nonetheless, I manage to finish most of it. Only then do I realize that he hasn't _actually_ told me why I'm here yet.

"You-" I sputter, having clothing thrown in my face. I pull it back to see that it's the kimono. "Why-"

"Change."

My left eyebrow twitches. _'This guy.'_ I eye the plan cotton kimono. While it's clearly a hand me down, it's in good condition, but...

I examine the clothes I'm currently wearing. There's some dirt, and they've certainly seen better days, however there's no rip or-

My thoughts come to a screeching halt, when, much later that I ought to have, I notice the lack of scattered injuries on my body. Even the _tennis ball sized_ bruise that had been on my left shin, or my scraped and scabbed knee is completely healed! Hell, the tiny sliver scar I got two years ago on my right index finger is gone!

_'The hell?'_

My little, years old scar fading is one thing. But blue and purple bruises and skinned knees don't just heal overnight-

_'Oh, Kami, how long have I been out?'_

Feeling as if someone knocked all the wind out of me, I choke; "How long was I out?"

I assumed it's been a day, but don't bruises typically take a week and a half to two weeks to heal? My skin has become tougher throughout the years of Judo practise, my skin bruising less easily and my feet not ones to get matt burns anymore, but I heal at the average speed, thank you very much! And, and, that pile of bloody bandages is looking awfully high right now, like my wound was dressed and re-dressed multiple times-

_'Oh, Kami.'_

Sesshomaru eyes me with an unreadable expression. "You are safe. Breathe."

_"How long was I out?"_

The tiny bit of emotion that I couldn't name shutters, and once again his face may as well be carved out of stone. "Three days," he informs me monotony.

 _'Oh.'_ I feel a rush of air leave me, and I sage against the makeshift bed. Three days. That's not too bad, right? And head wounds bleed a lot...Hence the pile of bandages. I was simply overreacting, like Kagome is always telling me I am. Three only days.

Now that was just embarrassing.

He gestures to the kimono in my lap, before pointedly turning his back to me.

 _'Right...'_ "Uh, look," I start awkwardly. "Thanks for this, but I, ah, got my own clothes in my bag..." _'So if you could just hand it over...?'_

My bag, for whatever reason, is on the other side of the crackling fire. Far out of my reach.

Sesshomaru doesn't glance back as he informs me coldly; "Those... _Garments_ you claim are unfit. Even for one such as _you_."

"Excuse me?" I say, voice pitching just a tad higher than I meant it to. _'Did he just -I could've sworn that he-'_ "What do you mean by _that?"_

Stony silence.

I fume, but hold back the scathing words sitting on my tongue, because I don't want to jump to any conclusions even as I _swear_ it sounded like he was -and that's when it dawns on me. As if I was dowsed in a bucket of ice-cold water, I suddenly remember that I'm in the _Feudal Era._

 _'Kami, what he must think of me!'_ My face burns as I look down at my own clothing in a new light. Light, durable, and travel-friendly but oh-so inappropriate in the eyes of 'today's' society. _'He probably thinks that I'm a harlot or something!'_

The memory of when Kagome and I were kidnapped by the bandits flashes through my mind.

Lips pursed, I eye the kimono in my hands before sighing. It's not as mobile as my shorts, but if I don't want to earn unwanted attention here..."Thank you," I tell Sesshomaru grudgingly, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "For the clothes, I mean. And, ah, for treating my injuries."

"Hn."

With his back facing me, I push past my aching joints and crying muscles to change into the hand-me-down. Idly, I wonder whom this had belong to and where he got it from. From a lady friend maybe-?

 _'No,'_ I decide, eyeing his back as I tie my front up. _'I can't see_ him _having any friends. Besides, this kimono was obviously owned by a commoner. Based on the quality of his clothing, speech pattern, the fact that he's some sort of royal heir, and general snobby attitude I highly doubt he would 'lower' himself to acquaint himself to_ peasants.' He probably got Jaken to buy it off someone in a nearby village.

Speaking of "-Where's the toad?" I wonder, sitting back down.

He turns back around, looking me up and down in my new attire. "Who are you?" he orders me with narrow eyes instead of answering, arms folded with his hands tucked in his wide sleeves.

"My name is Higurashi Shika," I inform him, safe in the knowledge that he can't use my name against me. More importantly, reach my house and family. The habitual "It's nice to meet you" is on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow the words back. Instead I ask; "And you are?"

He seems to grow a tad taller, despite not slouching before. "Rightful Lord of the Western Lands. You may address me as Lord Sesshomaru."

 _'Yeah, that's not happening.'_ No family name? Do yokai even _have_ family names-? And didn't Myoga say that he was the _heir,_ or am I not remembering things correctly? _'Doesn't matter. Focus, girl! Focus!'_

I clear my throat, feeling awkward and self-conscious under his piercing eyes. "Right. Well, thanks again for taking care of me. I appreciate it, but I should really start trying to find Kagome and Inuyasha-" I move to stand, but freeze and stare wide-eyed when red starts to bleed into Sesshomaru's eyes, the magenta stripes on his cheeks turning jagged.

_Grrrr..._

"No," he growls, deep in his throat while pinning me with his predatory gaze alone.

My mind blanks. Completely shuts down for a solid second or two, being utterly consumed with the sight before me, and hearing my heart hammer in my ears, before my mind reboots and my whole body is suddenly flushed with pure _anger._

 _"Excuse me?"_ I hiss, glaring down at him as I rise to my feet. "What do you mean _'no'?"_

Sesshomaru remains unmoved. "The halfbreed proves to be inadequate to protect you," he all but snarls, upper lip curled in disgust.

The sight of his sharp fangs causes my gut to tighten, but for an entirely different reason than before.

"I can protect _myself,_ thank you. And who are you to decide who I'm allowed to be with, anyways?" I retort hotly, indignation rising within me.

He stands, my chest almost touching his with how close we're standing together as he looms over me. I have to tilt my head all the way back in order to maintain eye contact. "You will stay here and rest, human," he commands curtly.

I swallow the lump forming in my throat, straightening as I refuse to let him cower me. _'Stay calm, stay firm...'_ "No."

Oh, the flash of anger that crosses his striking, demonic eyes is as delicious as it is terrifying. "It is not a request." As if he hadn't made that clear already.

My smile is all teeth. "Last time I checked you weren't my father, _Sesshomaru-san."_

 _Oof-!_ I gasp and claw at the hand around my throat, when in a blink of an eye he suddenly grabs and knocks the wind right out of me, pinning me down against his mass of fluff as he looms an inch over me with a savage expression.

 ** _"You will learn respect, female,"_** he growls deeply, fiercely.

"Then show me some-thing worth res-pect _ing-!_ " I barely manage to choke out.

Sesshomaru's answering roar leaves my ears ringing as he suddenly flings himself away, growling, spitting, teeth gashing and pacing as if he were possessed on the opposite side of the cave.

I cough and rub my throat, raising myself on my elbow with my heart still hammering and chest heaving all the while. _'Definitely psychotic!'_

"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru! I finally found you-" The tiny toad yokai, Jaken, freezes in the cave's entrance like a deer in the headlight.

 **"Watch her. Do not let her leave this cave,"** Sesshomaru twirls on Jaken threateningly, before disappearing in a blur of white.

Jaken squeaks out a "Yes, Milord!" even as Sesshomaru has already left. He seems as pale as I'm feeling. "W-What did you do to Lord Sesshomaru, h-human!" he demands as he turns on me, but the effect is completely lost due to his puny size and how his voice trembles with fear.

"I just gave him a reality check," I sneer. But my hands are still shaking, and I can't help but think; _'And he returned the favour ten-fold.'_

Well. All the more reason to stop wasting time, right? I steel myself, trying my best to forget the touch of Sesshomaru's slender fingers wrapped around my soft throat, and his warm breath on my face as he stared into my eyes.

_('Ha! Like that's at all possible!')_

Distantly, I recognize that Jaken is trying to tell me something, but not his exact words. Black dots swarm my vision when I attempt to stand, so I give myself a minute to get my bearings before continuing.

"-Are you even listening?!" Jaken cries, with that annoyingly high-pitch voice of his.

"No," I tell him truthfully.

He squawks at me in outrage, but I turn sly eyes on the two-headed staff that he's carelessly waving about in the air.

"-I never -you should be grateful, you insolent girl! Lord Sesshomaru-"

I slowly walk towards him; one step in front of the other while his face gradually reddens as he works himself up.

"-Lucky -what are you doing?" his large eyes become even bigger when he finally pauses, taking in the fact that I'm now within arms' reach of him.

I smirk.

_WHACK!_

As Jaken crumbles to the ground, unconscious, I -with the staff in my hands- remark to myself that Sesshomaru believing _him_ to enough to hold me here is the highest insult yet.

 _'I hope you rot in Hell,'_ I think darkly as I spit on Jaken's form. Both him _and_ the entitled asshole.

I turn on my heel and stalk forward to snatch my bag, slinging it over my shoulder after I stuff my shirt and shorts in it. I leave the cave with the wooden staff clutched in me hands. The evening is only slightly chilly, it being the middle of summer and the sun only beginning to set.

I don't like the idea of travelling alone during the night. Not one bit. But with Sesshomaru possibly returning any minute now, what choice do I have?

I can only hope that I'm not heading in the same direction that he took off in.

* * *

Finding a water source is _not_ easy, let me tell you.

I may not be an expert, or even one that goes camping often, but I know enough survivalist stuff to know that having a reliable water source is _the_ most important thing. Right next to shelter. And where be water, must be settlement.

Plus, I remember reading somewhere that dogs can't track scents in the rain. And while it doesn't seem like it's going to rain tonight, I can at the very least soak myself. So it's really like killing three birds with one stone.

I don't dare run, despite the growing inch under my skin the more I picture Sesshomaru's reaction to finding me gone. The mere idea of Sesshomaru tracking me down like the dangerous predator that he is -him _catching me-_ sends shiver down my spine. But I can't risk creating too much noise, in fear of not only catching _his_ attention but also the other creatures that stalk and lurk in the night. I'm risking enough simply using my flashlight to see more than a foot ahead of me.

It's not like I actually know how to work this magic staff, though simply having it in my hand is a great comfort.

(Not for the first time I curse Kagome for somehow convincing me to join in this craziness. I _knew_ coming to the past was a terrible idea, _I freaking knew it-)_

As it is, I don't stumble upon a small, shallow creek until the sun has long since disappeared, the air grown cold with stars twinkling in the sky, and the nocturnal wildlife coming alive. I'm not sure if the moon hanging above me adds to the creepiness of the night or not, but it certainly doesn't help my paranoia either way.

 _'It's not being paranoid if people truly are after you,'_ I remind myself glumly. But I digress.

When I finally find the creek, the precious, _beautiful_ creek, I almost collapse with the sheer _relief_ that floods me. I may have even shed a tear or two, but nobody needs to know that. (Just like nobody needs to know a rabbit rustling in a brush has me nearly jumping out of my skin and shrieking. Damn rabbit almost gave me a heart attack, making me think that Sesshomaru had found me.)

I waste no time in dropping my heavy bag, the staff, and getting myself wet. Clothes and all. Once I'm properly drowsed, shivering and knowing that it'll be a miracle if I don't wake up tomorrow with a cold, I sigh and eye my backpack warily, which is resting by the edge.

To soak it or not to soak it, that is the question.

There are a lot of things in there that can't - _shouldn't_ meet water, but on the other hand I have no way of knowing how far Sesshomaru's sense of smell extends too...It hits me, then, that I actually _do._ Gramp's book of yokai folklore that I had nicked before Kagome and I left the Modern Era.

Kami, that morning feels like a _lifetime_ ago.

Despite the deep ache in my calves, and my throbbing feet from the hours long hours long walk, I gain a newfound spring in my step as I leave the creek to dig in my bag.

Heh, once again my thorough planning saves the day!

 _'Clothes, water bottles, dirty food containers, bra, umbrella, compass, mess kit, tiny pot...'_ Grrr! Huffing in annoyance, I decide to simply dump it all on the grass. _'There!'_

Nearly falling apart by the spine, the dark navy hardcover with golden writing engraved on it stands out against the mess kit and first aid tin. I take it, cradling it in my hand like the invaluable piece it is. Once upon a time I would shake my head on how worked up Gramps can get with legends, acting as if they were real, but I was a naive fool back then.

Biting my bottom lip, I hesitate to open and read the book where I am. I flash my light about, hearing only the music of crickets and the occasional hoot by an owl. Still, the gnawing pit in my gut tells me that staying in one place isn't worth the risk nor the rest, so I ultimately decide to leave my bag dry as it is and read Gramp's book as I walk.

Knowledge is power, after all.

I put the folklore novel to the side, and then start to stuff my bag full of other things I had dumped. Hold on...Where the hell is my manga? My _very expensive yaoi manga?_

I was _sure_ that I packed it for some late-night reading...No; I _know_ it was in here before. I clearly remember seeing it when I triple-checked my bag before leaving the house. The only other benefit of this ugly backpack -besides the sheer amount one is able to fit inside it- is how securely the top is, despite not having a zipper. And nothing else is missing...No holes or tears from the battle...

_'Oh, no he didn't!'_

I don't know either to be mortified or furious that Sesshomaru went through my things and took -and certainly _read-_ my _very much mature_ _yaoi_ manga.

 _'How dare he! How-how fucking_ dare he!' Does he realize how _hard_ it is to keep those genres hidden from my noisy family members!? And-and he, what? Stole them? _Burned_ them?

 _'He better not have burned them, or so help me the next time I see him I'm going to burn his_ ass!' I seethe, my knuckles turning white from squeezing my fists so tight.

It's just as I'm slipping my backpack over my shoulders and reaching for Gramp's book, still grumbling to myself about what a pain buying the series again is going to be, when an earth-shattering roar ripples throughout the forests. It not only makes me nearly piss myself, but the birds in the trees as well as they cry out and fly away.

My heart stops dead when I catch sight of white fur above the forest trees, seemingly several miles away but all too close nonetheless.

_'Shit!'_

_RRRWWWOOOAAARRR!_

I promptly run like the dickens.

Later, I might remark upon how _fast_ adrenaline and pure, unadulterated _terror_ can make someone -I could have probably given the horse that sped across me, scared witless and trying to distance themselves from the freaking _beast_ just like me, a run for their money- but at the time, I could only think one thing:

_'Run.'_

Run, run, run! _R_ _un before he sees, before he sees and gives chase, before he sees and gives chase and swallows me whole!_

I didn't feel the sharp whiplash of sticks and branches whipping my arms and legs, drawing blood. I didn't even feel more than the slightest of stings when my ankle got caught on a root and I fell on my hands and knees.

I certainly felt the blood leave my face though, and the heart lodged in my throat when I looked up in time to glimpse the gigantic, snarling and furious beastly thing running towards me through the trees.

I scramble up and bolt -like my life depends on it, because it does.

Deafening, thunderous footsteps are at my heels, causing the very ground to quake and my heartbeat to spike even further.

I don't dare to glance behind me as I tear past trees and bushes alike, breaking through a clearing. A clearing with a cliff edge, at least a fifty feet drop with jagged rocks at the bottom.

_'Oh, Kami...'_

_Grrrr..._

Bloodshot eyes glare down at me, so full of rage, as black lips reveal large, sharp fangs that gleam in the moonlight. Deadly claws longer than the length of my entire _body_ tears up the soft earth, as a tall hundred feet canine beast with a crescent moon on its forehead takes one massive step toward me, powerful muscles rippling with every move.

I'm rooted to the ground, paralyzed with certain death ten feet behind me and twenty feet in front of me.

_'I'm going to die.'_

The beast leans it's snarling snout closer me, now only a few inches away and causing my wet hair to fly back. This close up, I can see the individual hairs, and its black nostrils flaring wide.

I burst into hysterics, choking on my salty tears as my knees buckle from underneath me.

_'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die-'_

A scream tears itself out from my throat when the beast's jaw opens, and-

 _'What?'_ I'm shocked stupid when, instead of tearing me into pieces and eating me, the beast transforms into a blinding light. Instinctively, I shut my eyes and raise my arms to block it.

I feel hands pins my wrists together and above my head before a heavy body traps mine beneath it. Sesshomaru, still crimson eyed and snarling as his claws bite into my skin, is revealed once the bright light subsides.

His deep, dark and rumbling growl of **_"MINE!"_** shocks me back to earth.

"Stop-let-" I gasp, struggling and withering with all my might. One of my legs jerk up -only for me to realize too late that he has both my legs pinned beneath his hips.

Sesshomaru snaps at me, pinching the sensitive skin just under my jaw with his teeth as I flinch away. **"Submit!"**

"No, please, don't, I-" I'm absolutely sobbing now, terror consuming me whole, not knowing what I'm saying even to own ears as he presses down on me harder. "No" _'-No, no, no, please-'_ 'Don't-"

 **"Submit to me!"** He growls again, sounding utterly furious.

I shake my head, not knowing what he wants. "Please, no, no, no-"

He nips me again, harder this time with his grip on my fragile wrists turning bruising. I jerk my head away, trying desperately to _get away-_

Too late, I realize what a dire mistake that is as my vulnerable throat is exposed to him. His cold nose buries itself in the crook of my neck, teeth grazing and scratching my pulse that sends a shiver down my spine.

_'Oh Kami, oh Kami, oh Kami-'_

He presses his nose deeper, mouth opening, sharp fangs piercing and -and nothing.

Just when I think he's going to bite down -going to rip my throat- he freezes. Before shaking against me, tensing and curling himself around me with my wrists and legs still pinned.

Through my own wildly pounding heart, and the blood rushing through my ears, I can feel his heavy breath on my shoulder. The wet feeling of his scorching tongue licking me has me flinching violently.

The rumbling in his chest, which I can feel travelling all the way down to my toes and hadn't noticed becoming softer, suddenly grows louder and in his throat.

 _"Please,"_ I beg pathetically. _'Please, please, no -stop- let me go-'_

 **"Mate..."** Sesshomaru struggles with himself, shaking harder and pressing against me more firmly, as if he were trying to get underneath my very skin. He takes a long, deep inhale.

We lay there for who knows how long, him on top of me and smelling and occasionally licking me as I try not to pass out, babbling and begging him. For what exactly, I don't know.

Eventually, we both stop shaking -me with terror, though I'm still scared witless, and him only Kami knows- and he removes his face and fangs from my neck, loosening his iron grip on my wrists. He then gently takes each one and licks all round; easing the pain with such care and intense concentration that it makes me flush.

My breath hikes when, once my wrists are thoroughly taken care of, he leans forward and swipes his hot tongue against my right cheek, coming back up with blood on his lips. Then he slides down -still keeping my legs trapped- and catches every nick and scratch on my arms and legs.

Satisfied and not seeing anymore wounds, his striking golden hues locks gazes with mine. I notice that the red is gone, and his cheek strips are smooth again.

"W-W-What did -what did y-you do," I manage to stutter out fearfully, arms curled into my chest protectively.

"My saliva possesses healing properties." His cold eyes narrow as he doesn't move off my hips. "You disobeyed me."

For a second, I think he's telling me that he healed me _because_ I disobeyed him, but then my brain reboots several times and the reality of the past Kami-only-knows-how-long minutes sinks in.

I immediately jerk away, pushing him and yelping. He allows me to push him off but snatches my right wrist when I try to scramble away.

"Next time, you will do as I say, girl." It's not a question, and it's said so coldly and with such surety that I'm helpless as he seizes me in his arms and takes us back to the cave.


	6. The Big, Bad, And Bipolar Dog

Later, I will look down upon this night with Shame. Yes, shame with a capital 'S,' just to show exactly how Shameful it is.

I wish I could say that I didn't let him cower me. That I stood up straight with my shiny backbone, and sticked to him. That I didn't let him order me around and never stopped trying to escape -that I succeeded on the second try, even. Maybe gave him the good old thumbs down for good measure.

In reality, I don't do any of those things.

Scared witless, the memory of Sesshomaru transforming into a enormous, deadly beast and chasing me through the forest -and then whatever the _hell_ followed suit was- still terribly fresh in my mind, and Sesshomaru giving off 'don't fuck with me' vibes, I don't fight him.

Not even when we return to the cave, the fire long since dead, and he orders me to strip. Feeling raw, vulnerable, and awfully exposed, I drop my heavy backpack before shedding my dripping wet kimono and peeling off my soggy boots and socks.

I want to cry, but I had no more tears to cry with.

My stomach doesn't even drop when Sesshomaru commands Jaken to start a new fire, and then finds out from Jaken (the little _snitch)_ that I had stolen it, and lost it somewhere among the vast forest. But maybe that's because I also left my stomach by the cliff's edge.

I don't know. I only know that numbness is starting to set in, freezing my fingers and toes, leaving a gnawing hole inside of me, and most importantly I don't want to test my dangerous captor anymore than I already have.

I want my Mama.

So, _so_ badly.

Sesshomaru kicks Jaken out into the night to find his staff, and strips himself of his top before telling me to cover myself. And when he sits down on the floor, leaning against the rocky wall with the expectation that I will sleep snuggled against his bare chest? I bite my cheek enough to taste blood and force my body to _move_ -trembling with the sickening cold and fear alike.

 _'This is what you get when he can't trust you not to escape,'_ a voice in my head whispers.

I wish I had the energy to tell the voice where it can shove it.

(I wish for a lot of things.)

"Sleep," Sesshomaru intones as he covers me further with his mass of fluff.

Sleep, with his inhuman strength wrapped loosely around my middle, and his breath on the top of my head? When I can still feel phantoms of his fingers caging my fragile wrists, and his body pressing down on mine? With the visions his red, red eyes glaring down at me with such unveiled _hatred?_

_'Ha. What a funny joke.'_

Despite how sore and utterly exhausted my body is, my mind will not allow me to rest with such a dangerous predator so close. _Touching me,_ even. I can feel the burden of his unwavering gaze on me even now.

I don't dare move a muscle, though, from my position of curled up against his smooth skin. Chin resting on my knees and arms hugging my legs tight as if that will help to lesson the contact between Sesshomaru and I. My bleary eyes remain glued in the direction of the dark cave's only entrance.

Just when I'm starting to think that I'm going to stay awake all night, I hear a low rumbling in Sesshomaru's chest. My body instinctively tenses further, and I almost resist when he pushes my head flush against him so that I hear more clearly. But, somehow, this low growling is _different_ from the others. And dare I say it... _Soothing_ even.

Without me noticing at the time, my body slowly begins to melt against him and my eyes grow heavier, the curious sensation of Sesshomaru's soft growling warming me down to my toes.

* * *

My eyes snap open, a single realization shocking me awake. _'Wait a freaking second-'_

Sesshomaru healed all my wounds last night. Every little scratch and scrape, with his _saliva._ He _licked_ me all over, and, and-

And blue and purple bruises don't heal under three days, do they? Neither does a skinned knee. Which means that Sesshomaru must have _licked me all over_ while I was _unconscious!_

_'Just how far did he go exactly?!'_

Oh, Kami, this just like in some cliché, erotic paranormal romance novel!

And I've somehow wound up straddling him with our fronts facing each other, and my face buried in the crook of his neck...

A sharp curse slips pass my lips, and I almost fall over myself in an attempt to get away. My eyes snap up to his face, and I can't help but flinch when I catch him already staring at me, as stony as ever.

Like I hadn't just spent the past Kami-only-knows how many hours sleeping snuggled up against him, dressed only in his silky top and warm fur. As if he hadn't almost eaten me or killed me in some other fashion numerously.

My heart starts pounding harder, and I can feel my cheeks begin to burn the more he doesn't move. "I-I-"

He finally looks away, dismissing me as if I ever but a pest as he stands and faces the wall across from us. "Jaken will have your kimono ready," he informs me coldly, before walking away without a backwards glance.

I look around, seeing the ashy, charred pile of dead wood in the middle of the cave, and my orange bag still by the front where I left it. The kimono, my shoes and socks, and the old pile of bloody bandages seem to be missing however.

Before I can think on that further, though, Jaken walks into the cave with the kimono and my shoes in his arms.

He drops it a couple feet away from me, sneering. "Lord Sesshomaru has graciously had your clothes dried, and allow you to keep your strange human footwear. Although if it were up to _me,_ you would have paid for your insolence yesterday!" he says in his high-pitched, grating voice of his.

Oh, how I long to make that toad kiss dirt-

The memory of Sesshomaru changing into a beast and hunting me down flashes through my mind, and I temper down my impulses. I keep my lips firmly shut, even while the disgusting little yokai shoots me one more arrogant, haughty look before leaving, telling me not to waste anymore of "Lord Sesshomaru's" time.

I change, overwhelmingly grateful that Sesshomaru hadn't ended up getting rid of any of my underwear or shoes like he did with my manga. And then I'm angry at myself, because I _shouldn't_ be grateful. He has _no right_ to my stuff, or to-to-

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to swallow the uncomfortable lump forming in my throat. _'Don't cry, don't you dare try...'_

"Hurry up, girl!"

Taking in a deep breath, I steel myself before gathering my stuff and walking out.

* * *

**{Kagome}**

"Are you sure we're going the right way?!" I have to scream in order to hear myself over the biting wind.

Inuyasha side-eyes me, smirking as he continues to leap through the tall trees. "Feh. After revealing himself like he did last night? Of course! We'll catch up to the bastard in no time!"

I tighten my grip around his shoulders. "I hope Shika is alright..." I murmur under my breath.

Inuyasha's little ears twitch, trying to turn in my direction. "What did you say?!"

"Nothing!"

According to Myoga, dog yokai's can apparently 'smell' their destined mates. That's not to say that they're guaranteed to meet, or be of the same species, but it's some sort of big deal if they _do_ find each other.

Inuyasha's father and his mother were true mates, if Myoga is to be believed, and the only reason why Sesshomaru even _exists_ is because some elders were putting pressure on Sesshomaru's mother, and both her and their father had given up hope in finding their respective mates.

Myoga insists that the beast in Sesshomaru won't let him hurt Shika even if he wants to, or allow others to harm her, but I don't know...Last time we saw him, he seemed awfully... _Unhinged._ Furthermore, does he even know _how_ to treat an injured human?

Inuyasha remains stubborn that his older brother would _never_ take a human for a mate, even under threat of his own life. That he would rather kill himself than even entertain the idea of bounding himself to a human for the rest in eternity.

And I have to admit, from what I've seen so far, I agree with Inuyasha. Sesshomaru doesn't seem the willing type to take a human girl for a wife.

And what on earth _happened_ to cause Sesshomaru to transform into his 'true' form anyways? He was far away from where we stood last night -he was just barely spot in the horizon- but more than anything, it was his _aura_ that had me choking up.

Heavy, oppressive, and thick, I could hardly stand on my own two feet from the sheer _rage_ I could sense. It was Inuyasha that identified it as Sesshomaru. And from the great distance between him and us? I can only imagine how much worse it was for those in his vicinity.

I can only hope that Myoga -however cowardly he is, and no matter that he's long since made himself scarce- is also right. That no matter how angry or unhinged Sesshomaru is, he won't take it out on Shika.

Shika is strong. Strong, brave, clever, and usually levelheaded. But enough to defeat Sesshomaru on her own? The dread pooling in my gut says _'no.'_

 _..._ And if _-when-_ we find Shika again, and if she has the 'claimed' mark on her neck that Myoga talked about...Well, nothing will stop me from purifying his behind.

* * *

**{Shika}**

I don't talk for the entirety of the day.

Not even for all of Jaken's asinine yammering -"Lord Sesshomaru this," "Lord Sesshomaru that"- and when his beloved 'Lord' Sesshomaru eventually chucks a rock at Jaken's head to shut him up.

I don't talk when the sun's heat starts to become almost overbearing, or when my throat becomes awfully dry because of it. Not when my feet start to hurt, or when my stomach clenches with my growing hunger.

I especially don't talk when I attempt to slowly -ever so slowly- feed the distance between Sesshomaru and I, and divert from their path.

I don't get very far; I don't make it ten feet from the forest's edge before Sesshomaru pauses in his tracks, shooting me a glare so cold and cutting over his shoulder that it sends me scurrying back to Jaken's side.

The second attempt earns me leashed to _his_ side with his fluff wrapped tight around my middle. How the _hell_ it stays tied I will never know.

But though I don't dare utter a peep, wary of triggering Sesshomaru somehow, my mind is not so silent.

Why is he doing this? Is he hoping to use me as a hostage? Demand that he receive the Tessaiga or he kills me?

I can see that. Him using me to get the oh so powerful sword _(-'which didn't look so impressive if you asked me'-)_ makes the most sense. But, then why does he-

Why does he _care?_

The word 'care' tastes wrong. Bitter, awkward, and not right. But he...He evidently cares enough not leave me injured, even if he doesn't care about me _personally._ Why would he bother to put in the effort if I'm only a tool to him? A means to an end? Surely a few scrapes aren't enough to become a deal breaker between Kagome, Inuyasha, and him.

Oh, Kami, just the mental _image_ of Sesshomaru slowly licking every inch of my skin with his hot, wet tongue, and caressing-

I flush, down to my toes as I tear my eyes away from Sesshomaru's wall of silver hair from where I've been staring. _'Nope! Nope, nope,_ nope! _We are_ not _going there!'_

Get it together! He is your _captor! CAPTOR!_

 _'But...Could it be...The scent of my blood is distracting for him?'_ I ponder, before shaking my head and disregarding it in the next second. _'No. No way.'_ A superior sense of smell or not, if it was just the little drops of blood that posed the problem then I would still be bruised all over.

And what about my head wound? It's healed _now,_ but obviously Sesshomaru went through the pains of redressing it every now and again while I slept. Why didn't he heal _that?_ Not that I _want_ my head to be slobbered all over, necessarily, but...

 _'Maybe my hair got in the way?'_ That's a possibility...

My stomach growls. _Loudly._

My whole body tenses when Sesshomaru stops walking and turns his head in my direction. I don't dare to so much as twitch a muscle when he narrows his eyes, but thankfully he faces Jaken without a word to me quickly enough.

"Jaken, go retrieve food for the girl."

"Y-Yes, Milord!" Jaken stutters out, before scrambling away with his two headed staff clutched in his hands.

"You may gather wood for a fire," Sesshomaru tells me stoically, and when he tugs on his end of the fluff it lets me go and flings itself over his shoulder. "Do not wander too far, and know that I will be aware if you do."

(That mass of fluff just isn't natural.)

I bite my tongue to hold back my scathing words. _May?_ I _may_ build a fire? How... _Generous_ of him. Nodding stiffly, I cautiously back away from him, careful not to give him my back.

He goes to sit against a tree trunk without a care.

The thought of disappearing into the woods and running away _does_ cross my mind, but I squash the impulse. Sesshomaru has clearly shown that he has no trouble tracking me down.

I will need to lay low, gather information, and conjure a solid plan before I try escaping again.

I have no idea where in Japan I am. No way of knowing how close Kagome and Inuyasha are, or how far. Zero clue if they'll even be able to find and rescue me.

The painful reminder of how utterly _alone_ I am causes my chest to tighten, and my eyes to burn. "Damnit," I mutter, furiously wiping away my traitorous tears. I will _not_ cry. I refuse to give Sesshomaru the _satisfaction._

I am strong. I am a strong, independent woman and-

And just want to go _home._

_'Oh, Kami.'_

I fall to a crouch, twigs and leaves cracking from under my feet, despair settling heavily on my shoulders. Why am I here? Why did I have to follow Kagome into the past? _Why did that stupid,_ stupid _sword have to exist-?_

I take in a deep breath, slapping both my cheeks in a poor attempt to gather myself. _'Stop it,'_ I scold myself. _'It is_ not _helpless. Kagome and Inuyasha_ will _find you eventually, and even if they don't, you_ will _find a way out. You are Higurashi Shika, and a Higurashi doesn't give up!'_

As to take my mind off anything too depressing, I turn my focus on gathering firewood. I remember in a camping guide that 'hardwood' such as maple, oak, ash, and birch, are apparently the best for a hotter and longer burning time. But I don't remember how the hell to tell the difference between 'hard' and 'soft' wood -so I'm just going to assume that all the surrounding trees are oak trees.

It's a lot harder locating good, proper firewood than you'd think. All I can find are useless twigs!

It gets to the point that I loosen my kimono and start climbing the trees. In my rapidly building frustration, I grab hold of a thick, sturdy branch and start stomping on a thinner, weaker one directly under it with both feet.

On the thirtieth stomp, the lower branch snaps free and I'm left hanging by the top with my legs swinging. Repeat twice more before I stumble upon a third of a hollow log, hidden in some bushes.

I spend some time trying to pry it apart, before giving up when my poor palms start to feel too raw. I end up lugging/rolling the log with the few small branches I managed to break free to the campsite.

I avert my eyes away from Sesshomaru, who is sitting so _composed_ and-and _something,_ before my frustration and anger can escape me. _'Sit and be of no help whatsoever, why don't you?'_

I hope bugs crawl into his perfect, silver hair.

The sun is beginning to set, and the air has chilled somewhat from blazing heat it was earlier. Mama, Gramps, and Sota have probably eaten dinner already. I wonder if Kagome has told them-

 _'No. We are_ not _going there, remember?'_

I pile all the wood in the middle of the tiny clearing. Then I start looking for big enough rocks to circle it with. Finally, when I can do no more, I stare down at my work moodily. All there's left to do is actually _start_ the fire, and yet...

I glance warily between the wood and my bag down at my feet. Sesshomaru wouldn't recognize most if any objects in here, and although I'm _sure_ he's already snooped through it, I don't want to bring his attention to anything in case he's forgotten and then suddenly decides to take it for himself...

 _'Like my yaoi manga,'_ I think bitterly to myself. Still pissed about that. _'Maybe I can do it like they do in movies instead?'_ Without thinking about it, I look up to find him already watching me, as always and never with that same unreadable expression of his.

 _'Just ignore him, just ignore-'_ "What?" I find myself snapping at him, and I instantly, mentally curse myself for slipping after so long.

"Are you unaware on how to start a fire?" he challenges, one fine brow arched.

I bristle at the subtle tone of condescension. _'To hell with it,'_ I think, before retorting; "I know how to start a fire just fine, thank you."

"Hn."

 _'Asshole!'_ I'll show _him,_ Mr Arrogant and Judgemental!

I dig through the outer pocket of my backpack, getting a the matchbox. Under Sesshomaru's watchful gaze I take one out, before striking it against the box's side and lighting the firewood.

 _'How's that for starting a fire, you old dog?'_ I pointedly look at him, still holding the matchbox.

"Hn." He turns his head to the left, clearly disinterested.

That little hum of his is starting to grate on my nerves _real fast-_

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru, look, I have returned!" Jaken calls out excitedly, reappearing in the same direction that Sesshomaru faces. In his tiny hands is a dripping wet, already dead fish. Pleased as punch, Jaken all but skips to where Sesshomaru is sitting with his hands outstretched.

"Hn." He doesn't move to take the fish.

Jaken wilts, but then straightens in the next second to march over to me, a haughty look on his ugly mug. "Here, girl, take this fish and be grateful that-"

_CRACK!_

I audibly gasp, flinching away when faster than I can blink, a green light smacks against the fish, causing it to explode all over Jaken and I.

I nearly give myself whiplash as I twirl on the standing Sesshomaru, eyes wide with shock just in time to catch the very same green whip-thing that he has used on the giant and in his battle with Inuyasha, disappearing into his fingers.

"What the _hell?"_ I blurt out thoughtlessly, registering the red tinges bleeding into his piercing demonic eyes too late.

"M-Milord-!"

"The girl can hunt for herself," he growls threateningly, causing a shiver of fear to race down my spine.

"But-But-But-" Jaken continues to sputter uselessly.

 _"Go,"_ he commands me, and I flee before my mind can catch up.

 _'What was that? What the_ hell _was that?!'_ He just -why would he- he _told_ Jaken to get the fish!

As my mind is scrambling to make sense of what just happened, I run and run until I find the small river that Jaken must have used before.

 _'Is Sesshomaru seriously bipolar?'_ I honestly wonder, sitting by the flowing river. and wiping away bits of fish with unsteady hands. _'Dear Kami, I hope that's not the case!'_ I do _not_ want to be trapped with a bipolar, unmediated, bloodthirsty yokai!

Although I'm no expert on mental cases, it _would_ explain a few things if he were...

I don't know how long I sit there, thoughts swarming and consuming my mind as I sit an inch from the water's edge, before I finally calm my wildly pounding heart.

Evidently, it's _too_ long because when I snap out if it -though my mind is no clearer- the sun has completely disappeared, and the mosquitoes have come to eat me alive.

"What are you doing?"

I practically jump out of my skin, hearing that low, smooth voice directly behind me. _'Shit-!'_ "Sesshomaru-san!" I choke, barely catching myself before I fall into the river. My eyes immediately fly to his, seeing not a hint of red nor a jagged strip on his cheek.

And then I realize what I just called him. Or, rather, what I called him with the _lack of._

Paling, I open my mouth to -what? Apologize? Beg him not to hurt me?- but he ignores me and continues:

"You have not caught any fish. Why?"

"I-I have no, um, fishing rod. Or bait." Dear Kami, I'm starting to sound like _Jaken-_

Sesshomaru narrows his eyes at me, and I forgot how to breathe. "And you are unable to catch with your hands or pierce one with a stick?"

"What?" I ask dumbly. _Catch_ the fish with my _bare hands?_ Use a _stick? 'How?!'_

Sesshomaru makes this weird, strangled sort-of-growly sound at the back of his throat, before stepping forward to trap me against him with a strong arm around my waist.

"Wha-AAHH!" I shriek, arms snaking around his shoulders and clinging to him desperately as the ground suddenly disappears beneath my feet.

"Crease your screaming at once," he demands icily, tightening his grip on me.

"Put me down! Put me down, put me down, _put me fucking down-"_

"Are you certain that you wish for me to let go?" he -the absolute _ass-_ challenges with an arched brow.

The true meaning of his words dawns on me a second later, filling me with horror.

I swear, loudly. "Don't you dare drop me, or I _swear_ I'll haunt your-" the rest of my threat is lost in the wind, and Sesshomaru makes us go even _faster._

The trees and land beneath us is nothing but a green blur, and it's all that I can do to protect myself from the biting wind by burying my face in his mass of fluff, and keep my sanity intact by closing my eyes.

Much, _much_ later for my tastes, Sesshomaru finally slows down before coming to a stop. I refuse to open my eyes, however, or unwrap either of my arms or legs from his person.

I'm pretty sure my soul left my body somewhere along the way.

A weird sensation passes through him, enough for me to feel it. "It is safe to let go now," he assures me, one large, warm hand splayed on my hunched back.

My only response is curl tighter around him. Do I care if I'm potentially cutting his air off? _No._ Ass deserves it.

And I don't want to open my eyes either. It would be _just like him_ to sit us upon an edge, with only enough room for one person to stand on and certain death at the bottom.

Nope. _'Nope, nope, nope-'_

I feel his other hand gently pry my legs apart, and then when my feet touch solid ground, forces my arms to let go. Cautiously, I open my eyes.

I see gravel. _Feel_ gravel. Real, _wondrous_ gravel underneath my feet. I realize, then, that I'm shaking like a leaf and Sesshomaru still has an arm around me.

_'Freaking bipolar, what did I say!'_

I blink, and then he drops his arm and takes a step back, leaving me cold, confused, and wondering if the tiny smirk I spotted on his lips was a trick of the moonlight.

I inhale deeply, wrapping my arms around me as I glare up at him. "You do that _one more time_ without warning me, and I'll kick your yokai ass, human or not." I am _very_ proud that my voice only comes out a _little_ shaky. Also that I remain standing.

Sesshomaru's eyes flash, but he doesn't say anything in return as he looks over my shoulder and hands me a small bag of coins from behind him.

"What?" I turn around to see what he's looking at, squinting to make out the shapes of huts and farming fields down the hill and in the darkness.

"Ask for food. But know that I will find you if you try to escape, or take too long."

"What?" I repeat dumbly. "Now?"

He gives an unimpressed look, as if to say; _"Yes, now. When else?"_

Right. Well. Clutching the soft bag in my hand, and shooting more than one backwards glance -just in case he suddenly changes his mind, and decides to go ape-shit on me for going-, I leave the travelling road and go down the grassy hill.

 _'Wait a second...'_ Back when I was still stuck to him like a particularly stubborn koala bear... _'Did he_ chuckle?'

I almost trip over a hidden rock when I realize this, and I whip around, but Sesshomaru is gone.

 _'Kami, he actually_ laughed _at me! Him! Laugh!'_

Now I _know_ my sanity ain't intact!

Insanity isn't going to cure my hunger, though, so I grudgingly trudge down to the little village with mixed emotions.

 _'Will anyone even be awake at this time?'_ I wonder.

Or do business with me, a clear outsider? The Feudal Era isn't known for its people to be _trusting_ and _welcoming_ after all...

The first house straight up doesn't answer when I knock and call out, even though I can hear someone shuffle about inside. The second house isn't any better, but on the third one a man cracks the door open enough to peer out.

"What do you want?" He demands gruffly, eyeing me up and down with clear suspicion.

Idly, I wonder if he wouldn't be so hostile if I were wearing Priestess robes.

I plaster a smile on anyways. "Hello. Do you perhaps have any food to spare? I have money..."

"How much?"

"How much food do you have?" I counter.

The man narrows his eyes, but after a tense, stiffing and awkward as hell moment, he orders me to "wait here" and closes the door in my face.

He comes back with two dirty carrots and a quarter of stale bread two minutes later.

I purse my lips but withhold the urge to question him if he has any better bread, having a good idea on the financial problems I'm sure everyone suffers with in this dirty little village.

 _'Beggars can't be choosers,'_ I remind myself.

I open the bag Sesshomaru gave me, and I come to another realization that I don't have a clue about how much weight certain coins carry compared to in my time.

_'Fantastic. I guess I'll just have to wing it then.'_

"I'll give you a koku for them," I try, fishing one out.

"Deal," the man quickly agrees, snatching the single coin from me before shoving the food in my arms and closing the door again. The sound of a deadlock being put in place cuts loudly into the otherwise peaceful night.

"Okay..." Feeling as if maybe I went too high, and that I just got ripped off, I begin my walk back to where Sesshomaru left me.

 _'Do I owe him money for this?'_ The second after this passing thought I scold myself.

Sesshomaru _kidnapped me._ He is my _captor._ I don't owe him the dirt underneath my fingernails -forget _money!_ He's the one that suddenly got all huffy and puffy about Jaken giving me a fish _like he ordered him to._ And once I'm free, I'm never going to see him or that annoying toad again!

Once I reach the top of the hill, Sesshomaru silently appears in front of me -so quickly that I would think he teleported if not for the following gust of wind.

My heartbeat spikes, and I barely withhold the urge to scream. "Don't _do_ that!" I hiss, glaring up at him as I shove his moneybag into his waiting hand.

I swear he's trying to give me a heart attack on purpose!

He eyes the pitiful foods in my arm, but doesn't otherwise comment as he opens his arm.

Lips pursed, I step into his embrace with no other choice.


End file.
